Abstract
To assess the safety of discharging cardiac surgical patients from the intensive care unit (ICU) to wards while the patients are still receiving a dopamine infusion. Retrospective, observational study. Cardiothoracic ICU of a tertiary academic hospital in the United Kingdom. The study comprised all cardiac surgical patients older than 18 years and admitted between September 1, 2015 and September 16, 2016 to the ICU and subsequently discharged to a surgical ward. Patients were divided in the following 2 groups: a dopamine group with patients discharged with a dopamine infusion and a control group with patients discharged without any dopamine infusion. None. The hospital mortality rate was comparable in both groups (0.7% in the dopamine group v 0.2% in the control group [p = 0.11]), despite that the median logistic EuroSCORE was significantly higher in the dopamine group (7.0 v 3.8 [p < 0.01]). The ICU readmission rate was higher in the dopamine group (6.6% v 2.4%; p < 0.01). ICU and hospital lengths of stay were longer in the dopamine group (1.7 v 0.9 days [p < 0.01] and 11.4 v 8.0 days [p < 0.01], respectively). Despite a higher ICU readmission rate, ICU discharge of patients on dopamine infusion was not associated with increased mortality.
Published Version
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