Intensive care in an older population: Influence of age, comorbidities and sex in 304 plastic and reconstructive surgical patients older than 75 years

Abstract

Aim An aging population will lead to an increasing demand for critical care resources. Hence, we evaluated the potential influence of age, comorbidities and sex in plastic and reconstructive patients ≥75 years that were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods We included 304 patients who required intensive care between 2000 and 2019. Besides patient demographics, medical case characteristics were statistically evaluated. Results In this study, 184 patients were female (61%) (120 male), the median age was 81.8 years (25th and 75th percentiles: 77.4–87.2) with a range of 75.0–98.9 years. The median length of stay in the ICU was 12 days (25th and 75th percentiles: 3–28) with a range of 0–382 days. The reasons for admission were burn injury (n = 230, 76%), necrotizing fasciitis (n = 34, 11%), non‐combustion‐related traumas (n = 22, 7%) and postoperative observation after plastic surgery procedures (n = 18, 6%). In total, 108 patients (36%), who were significantly older (P = 0.005) and had a significantly shorter stay (P < 0.001) compared with the surviving cohort, died during their stay in the ICU. Our multivariable logistic regression model revealed that age (odds ratio: 1.05 [1.01, 1.09]; P = 0.017) and number of operations (odds ratio: 0.75 [0.60, 0.96]; P = 0.023) were significant predictors for death in the ICU. Discussion Age plays a critical role in determining fatal outcome of old patients requiring intensive care. In contrast, sex and number of comorbidities shows no significant influence. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2022; 22: 597–602.