Table 1.
Patients’ characteristics at the inclusion
| Characteristics | All patients N = 119 |
Center 1 (cisatracurium use) N = 97 |
Center 2 (atracurium use) N = 22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 62 (52–73) | 62 (51–72) | 63 (52–73) |
| Male [n (%)] | 78 (66) | 61 (63) | 17 (77) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 25.5 (23.4–29.6) | 25.3 (23.1–29.6) | 26.6 (23.7–32.2) |
| SAPS II (points) | 51 (40–62) | 50 (40–62) | 51 (44–60) |
| SOFA (points) | 9 (6–12) | 9 (7–12) | 9 (6–12) |
| Length of stay before ICU (days) | 1 (0–4) | 1 (0–4) | 1 (0–3) |
| Main reason for ICU admission [n (%)] | |||
| Medical | 111 (93) | 93 (96) | 18 (82)* |
| Surgical | 8 (7) | 4 (4) | 4 (18) |
| Main reason for neuromuscular blockade [n (%)] | |||
| ARDS | 94 (79) | 78 (80) | 16 (73)* |
| Exacerbations of COPD | 7 (6) | 5 (5) | 2 (9) |
| Status asthmaticus | 3 (3) | 3 (3) | 0 |
| Other respiratory failures | 6 (5) | 5 (5) | 1 (4.5) |
| Abdominal compartment syndromes | 5 (4) | 2 (2) | 3 (13.5) |
| Miscellaneous | 4 (3) | 4 (4) | 0 |
| Main comorbidities [n (%)] | |||
| Diabetes | 16 (13) | 14 (14) | 2 (9) |
| Renal disease | 8 (7) | 7 (7) | 1 (5) |
| Cirrhosis | 16 (13) | 14 (14) | 2 (9) |
| Corticosteroid treatment | 12 (10) | 11 (11) | 1 (5) |
| Sepsis [n (%)] | 85 (71) | 68 (70) | 17 (77) |
| Catecholamines [n (%)] | 78 (66) | 62 (64) | 16 (73) |
| Renal replacement therapy [n (%)] | 9 (8) | 6 (6) | 3 (14) |
Continuous variables are reported as medians and interquartile ranges (25th–75th percentiles), and categorical variables as numbers and percentages
SAPS II Simplified Acute Physiologic Score II, SOFA Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, ICU intensive care unit, ARDS acute respiratory distress syndrome, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
* p < 0.05 center 1 versus center 2