The experience of an emergency intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cohort study Emergency intensive care unit experiences due to COVID-19

Aim: The availability of an intensive care unit in the emergency departments (EDICU) is one of the most important issues discussed recently in terms of increasing the quality of emergency patient care. In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and factors affecting the mortality in patients with COVID-19. Material and Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in EDICU. Patients were divided into mortality and survival groups, and the clinical characteristics of these groups were compared. Results: A total of 38 patients were included; 47.4% (n = 18) were in the survival group. Oxygen saturation level was significantly different between the mortality and survival groups [78.0% (63.7-83.0) vs 88.5% (81.5-93.2), p = 0.001). Patients in the mortality group had higher plasma levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), procalcitonin, C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate, ferritin and D-dimer. Univariate regression analysis showed that oxygen saturation, LDH, CRP and endotracheal intubation (ETI) were significant markers in predicting mortality (p = 0.011, p = 0.035, p <0.001, respectively). A CRP level >= 91.9 mg/L predicts mortality with a sensitivity of 66.6% and a specificity of 80.0% (AUC: 0.781, 95% CI: 0.617- 0,898). Discussion: This study showed that oxygen saturation, ETI, LDH and CRP levels were significantly successful in predicting mortality. Therefore, early administration of antibiotherapy and timely use of ETI may increase the quality of patient care.