The Intensive care outcome of patients with a solid tumor in a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia: Results of a prospective ICU Registry

Objective: There is a paucity of research on the factors predicting mortality and a length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with solid tumor patients. This study will assess the characteristics and predictors of outcomes of patients with solid tumors in medical ICU. Material and Methods: This research has been designed as a retrospective observational study using an ICU database. Patients who have a solid tumor were included in the study (May 2015 to July 2018). Post-surgical and those with a length of stay of more than one day are excluded from the study. We identified the predictors for ICU mortality and ICU long stay (≥21 days). Results: Out of 2883 patients, 364 patients with solid tumors were enrolled. The commonest sites for solid tumors were breast (15.9%), colorectal (11.5%), and lung (9.9%). 158 (43.4%) had metastatic disease, and 264 (72.5%) with progressive disease. The major reasons for ICU admission were a respiratory failure (52.7%) and severe sepsis (52.2%). The ICU and hospital mortality rates were 32.4% and 47%, respectively. Fifty patients (13.7%) had long stayed (≥ 21 days) in ICU. The independent predictors for mortality were Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1–1.3; P=.000), invasive ventilation (OR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.5–8.3; P=.004) and vasopressor (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.1–5.9; P=.018), while the independent predictors of long-stay were ICU infections (odds ratio [OR], 18.9; 95% CI, 5.3 – 66.7; P=.0001), SOFA score (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2–1.8; P=.0001), invasive ventilation (OR, 8.2; 95% CI, 1.6–40.4; P=.009), bilirubin (OR, .5; 95% CI .2–.9; P=.049). Conclusion: Irrespective of the cancer stage, patients had a reasonable survival, and most do not require a long stay in the ICU. Flexibility in admission should be considered as disease progression and metastatic disease were not independent predictors of ICU mortality or long stay in this study.