Defining Prolonged Length of Acute Care Stay for Surgically and Conservatively Treated Patients with Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Population-Based Analysis

Abstract EN

Background.

The definition of prolonged length of stay (LOS) during acute care remains unclear among surgically and conservatively treated patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Methods.

Using a population-based quality assessment registry, we calculated change points in LOS for surgically and conservatively treated patients with ICH.

The influence of comorbidities, baseline characteristics at admission, and in-hospital complications on prolonged LOS was evaluated in a multivariate model.

Results.

Overall, 13272 patients with ICH were included in the analysis.

Surgical therapy of the hematoma was documented in 1405 (10.6%) patients.

Change points for LOS were 22 days (CI: 8, 22; CL 98%) for surgically treated patients and 16 days (CI: 16, 16; CL: 99%) for conservatively treated patients.

Ventilation therapy was related to prolonged LOS in surgically (OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.5–3.1; P<0.001) and conservatively treated patients (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 2.2–2.9; P<0.001).

Two or more in-hospital complications in surgical patients (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 2.1–3.5) and ≥1 in conservative patients (OR: 3.0, 95% CI: 2.7–3.3) were predictors of prolonged LOS.

Conclusion.

The definition of prolonged LOS after ICH could be useful for several aspects of quality management and research.

Preventing in-hospital complications could decrease the number of patients with prolonged LOS.