Intensive care for the adult population in Ireland: a multicentre study of intensive care population demographics

INTRODUCTION This prospective observational study was conducted to describe the nature of the intensive care population across Ireland, identify adherence to international benchmarks of practice, and describe patient outcomes in critically ill patients. METHODS A prospective observational multicentre study of demographics and organ failure incidence was carried out over a 10-week period in 2006 across the intensive care units (ICUs) of 14 hospitals in both the Republic and Northern Ireland. RESULTS In total, there were 1,029 patient episodes entered across 14 ICUs. Emergency admissions accounted for 70% of episodes. Admissions after major elective surgery accounted for 20.5% of admissions. The mean length of ICU stay was 5.7 days, with a median of 2 days. Severe sepsis was identified in 35% of patients during their ICU admission. Mechanical ventilation was used in 70.7% of all patients admitted, of whom 26.9% had acute lung injury. Acute kidney injury occurred in 28% of all patients. Interhospital transfers were undertaken in 85 (8.3%) patients. The overall intensive care mortality of the study population was 19%. CONCLUSIONS Intensive care medicine in Ireland serves a patient population with high requirement for mechanical ventilation and support of the function of multiple organs. The overall mortality compares favourably with international benchmarks.