Table 1.
Characteristics of the study patients according to type of ICU admission
| Surgical patients (25) | Medical patients (19) | P value | All (n = 44) | |
| Age, years | 63 (57 to 68) | 63 (56 to 74) | 0.9 | 63 (56 to 71) |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 26 (24 to 32) | 26 (24 to 30) | 0.8 | 26 (24 to 32) |
| Male sex | 15 | 14 | 0.3 | 29 (66%) |
| Chronic diseases | ||||
| - Ischaemic heart disease | 2 | 7 | 9 (20%) | |
| - Arteriosclerosis obliterans | 2 | 2 | 4 (9%) | |
| - Diabetes | 5 | 5 | 10 (23%) | |
| - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 1 | 4 | 5 (11%) | |
| - Asthma | 2 | 2 | 4 (9%) | |
| - Inflammatory disease (inflammatory bowel disease, vasculitis or rheumatoid diseases.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Focus of infection | ||||
| -Lungs | 5 | 13 | 18 | |
| -Intra-abdominal | 14 | 2 | 16 | |
| -Urinary | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| -Primary blood | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| -Other | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| Positive blood culture | 8 | 4 | 0.8 | 13 |
| Hydrocortisone therapy | 19 | 13 | 0.6 | 32 (73%) |
| Noradrenaline | 22 | 16 | 1.0 | 38 (86%) |
| -maximum rate, μg/kg/minute | 0.44 (0.29 to 1) | 0.24(0.12 to 1.14) | 0.3 | 0.42(0.19 to 1) |
| Adrenaline | 0 | 1 | 0.4 | 1 (2%) |
| Vasopressin and analogues | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 6 (14%) |
| Activated protein C | 2 | 4 | 0.4 | 6 (14%) |
| Length of stay at the intensive care unit | 7 (4 to 12) | 5 (4 to 12) | 0.7 | 7 (4 to 12) |
| APACHE II | 24 (23 to 29) | 26 (22 to 30) | 0.7 | 26 (22 to 30) |
| Organ failure | 18 | 12 | 0.5 | 30 (68%) |
| SOFA | 8 (6 to 11) | 8 (7 to 11) | 0.9 | 8 (6 to 12) |
| Lung spesific SOFA score even once three to four | 16 | 10 | 0.4 | 26 |
| Mortality during the stay at the intensive care unit | 6 | 3 | 0.5 | 9 (21%) |
| Mortality (30-days) | 7 | 4 | 0.6 | 11(25%) |
Data is expressed as medians and 25th to 75th percentile or with frequencies and percentages.
APACHE II = acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II; SOFA = sequential organ failure assessment.