The Intensive Care Unit of the University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria: A Ten Year Review (1991 - 2001)

A retrospective study was conducted on all patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria, over a 10 - year period (October 1991 - Sept. 2001). This period marks the first decade of the establishment of our ICU. The purpose of this study is to describe the pattern of admission of patients into the ICU, highlighting the variety of cases, indications for admission, outcome and causes of death, and the problems of medical and administrative management of the unit. No similar study has previously been carried out in this institution. A total of 295 patients, consisting of 185 males (62.7%) and 110 females (37.3%) were admitted to the ICU during the study period. The commonest indication for ICU admission was for postoperative high care (54.9%), with postlaparotomy patients accounting for 59.9% of these cases. Medical indications for admission accounted for 21.3%, with respiratory failure and asthma being the commonest and each accounting for 11.5%. One hundred and ten patients (37.3%) died during their ICU admission, giving an ICU survival rate of 62.7%. Late presentation of cases and inadequate staffing and equipment were important factors which may have contributed to mortality in these patients. Improved funding, training of additional staff and acquisition of advanced monitoring and life support equipment would improve the efficiency of our intensive care unit and patient survival.