Severe head injury patients in a multidisciplinary ICU: are they a burden?

Objective: Patients with severe head injury (HI) are often considered to be a burden in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit (ICU). This study was undertaken to compare the severe closed HI patients with all other patients in the ICU in terms of age group involved, stay in the unit, complications and outcome. Design: Retrospective analysis. Setting: Multidisciplinary ICU of a tertiary care hospital in Northern Indi a. Patients and participants: All the patients admitted to the ICU between Jan uary 1995 and December 1997. The patients were classified into two groups: group A comprising patients with severe closed HI and group B consisting of all other patients. Results: The mean age of the patients was around 30 years in both the group s. The average stay of the patients in the unit was 12.71 +/- 11.9 days in group A, compared to 9.9 +/- 14.4 days for group B (p < 0.05). The duration on the ventilator or on an endotracheal airway was not different between t he groups (p > 0.05). The mortality in group A was 46.8% and that in group B was 38.5% (p > 0.05). The mortality was directly proportional to the age in group A. Hypotension, renal failure and septicaemia were the commonest c omplications in both the groups but the difference was not statistically si gnificant. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that patients with severe HI do not po se an extra burden in a multidisciplinary ICU.