SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING MECHANICAL VENTILATION IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN SIALKOT

Objectives: To determine the short-term mortality rate of patients on mechanical ventilation in a tertiary care center in Sialkot, Pakistan.Study Design: Descriptive cross sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted jointly by the departments of Anesthesiology, Surgery and Gynecology & Obstetrics at Combined Military Hospital Sialkot Cantonment, from Jul 2013 to Jun 2015.Material and Methods: A total of 112 patients placed on mechanical ventilation were included in this study. The patients' age, gender, disease on admission, duration of ventilation, indication for ventilation, outcomes and complications were noted. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis.Results: Fifty-eight (51.78%) patients expired while 54 (48.21%) were weaned off successfully. In the fornum group of expired patients, the major factors contributing towards the mortality were multi-organ failure (37.9%), VAP/ventilator-ass ocia ted pneumonia (32.7%), coagulopathy (29.3%) and sepsis (27.5%). However, in the survivor patients group5 patient (9.25%) developed VAP, 3 (5.55%) developed pneumothorax while 3 others (5.55%) developed a fever of unknown etiology.Conclusion: The short-term mortality rate of patients who receive mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Sialkot, Pakistan is significantly higher than that of developed countries.