New tool predicts ICU readmission for surgical patients

Editor's Note

Researchers from the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, have developed a risk prediction tool, called a “nomogram,” that uses a scoring system to determine a patient’s risk for returning to the surgical ICU within 72 hours after discharge. The study was presented October 20 at the 2016 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

Of 179 risk factors analyzed, seven were chosen for the tool: patient age, respiratory rate, history of atrial fibrillation, history of renal insufficiency, blood urea nitrogen level, blood glucose level, and serum chloride level.

The researchers assigned points to each predictor based on how much each contributed to risk. Points for each predictor were summed and displayed graphically on a nomogram.

Patients with 40 to 79 points had a 1-5% chance, 80 to 114 points had a 6-20% chance, and 115 to 150 points had a 21-50% chance of readmission.

Risk prediction tool is a quick and easy way to determine if a patient is ready to leave the surgical intensive care unit, its developers say NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON, DC (Thursday, October 20, 2016): Health care providers can identify which patients are likely to be readmitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) within several days of leaving it by using just seven common variables that almost all critical care patients have measured, according to study results presented at the 2016 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.