Table 3.
Conditions resulting in complicated ventilation and distribution of conditions in rural hospital intensive care units*
| Condition | n (%) | Mortality | |
| 1. | Adult respiratory distress syndrome | 51 (23%) | 27 (53%) |
| 2. | Multiple organ failure | 33 (15%) | 19 (58%) |
| 3. | Sepsis syndrome with DIC | 30 (13%) | 19 (63%) |
| 4. | Neurological catastrophe | 14 (6%) | 9 (64%) |
| 5. | Complex chest trauma | 11 (5%) | 1 (9%) |
| 6. | Pneumothorax complicating #1 or #2 | 10 (4.5%) | 6 (60%) |
| 7. | Failure to wean | 7 (3%) | 1 (14%) |
| 8. | Persistently elevated peak | 3 (1%) | 3 (100%) |
| pressures ≥ 50 and PEEP ≥ 15 | |||
| 9. | Status asthmaticus with hypercapnea | 0 | 0 |
| 10. | Complex overdose (e.g. need for dialysis) | 0 | 0 |
*One hundred and one patients with one or more high-risk conditions by diagnosis or criteria. DIC, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy; PEEP, positive end-expiratory pressure.