Intensive care unit outcomes of surgical centenarians: The "oldest old" ofthe new millennium

This study compared the severity of illness and outcomes of surgical intens ive care unit (SICU) patients age 100 years or older with those of younger SICU patients. Severity of illness was measured with the Simplified Acute P hysiology Score (SAPS) and the Quantified Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (QTISS). Outcomes were evaluated with SICU length of stay (LOS), hos pital LOS, SICU mortality, and hospital mortality. All patients admitted to an urban, tertiary-care SICU from August 1, 1986 to July 31, 1998 (12 year s) were included. A total of 24,395 consecutive patients were evaluated of whom nine (0.037%) were age 100 or more. Complete outcome data were availab le for 13,773 patients who were divided into five groups on the basis of ag e: <70, 70 to 79, 80 to 89, 90 to 99, and 100 years and above. Nine centena rians were admitted to the SICU of whom one died in the SICU and another di ed in the hospital after SICU discharge (22.2% overall mortality). Centenar ian patients had higher SAPS and QTISS on admission than patients in all ot her groups, although this difference was not significant because of the sma ll number of centenarians. SICU and hospital LOS were not significantly lon ger for centenarians. Mortality in the SICU and hospital was significantly different across the age groups and rose with age. However, the modest 11.1 per cent SICU mortality rate in centenarians along with their LOS statisti cs indicate that these patients fare relatively well in surgical intensive care.