Indications and outcome for obstetric patients' admission to intensive care unit: A 7-year review

The objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the indications, interventions and clinical outcome of pregnant and newly delivered women admitted to the multidisciplinary intensive care unit at the King Abdullah University Hospital in Jordan over a 7-year period from January 2002 to December 2008. The collected data included demographic characteristics of the patients, mode of delivery, pre-existing medical conditions, reason for admission, specific intervention, length of stay and maternal outcome. A total of 43 women required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), which represented 0.37% of all deliveries. The majority (95.3%) of patients were admitted to the ICU postpartum. The most common reasons for admissions were (pre) eclampsia (48.8%) and obstetric haemorrhage (37.2). The remainder included adult respiratory distress syndrome (6.9%), pulmonary embolism (2.3%) and neurological disorders (4.6%). Mechanical ventilation was required to support 18.6% of patients and transfusion of red blood cells was needed for 48.8% of patients. There were three maternal deaths (6.9%). A multidisciplinary team approach is essential to improve the management of hypertensive disorders and postpartum haemorrhage to achieve significant improvements in maternal outcome. A large, prospective study to know which women are at high risk of admission to the intensive care units and to prevent serious maternal morbidity and mortality is warranted.