Pressure injuries at time of ICU admission tied to longer stays

(HealthDay)—Pressure injuries at the time of admission to an intensive care unit may predict patients at risk for longer hospital stays, according to a study published in the June issue of Critical Care Nurse.

William T. McGee, M.D., from the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed inpatient data from 2,723 adult patients in a 24-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit in a large level I trauma center from 2010 to 2012. The authors sought to evaluate the association between pressure injuries and length of stay and mortality.

The researchers found that 6.6 percent of patients had a pressure injury at admission. Compared with patients without a pressure injury at admission, patients with a pressure injury had a longer mean unadjusted stay (15.6 versus 10.5 days) and higher in-hospital mortality rate (32.2 percent versus 18.3 percent). The association between pressure injuries and mean increase in length of stay remained with adjustment for other variables (mean difference, 3.1 days).

"Pressure injuries present at admission to the intensive care unit are an objective, easy-to-identify finding associated with longer stays," the authors write.