Background and Aims

Intensive care; These are clinics with high morbidity and mortality in which critical patients are diagnosed, treated and closely followed up. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the development of infections detected in patients with different clinical conditions that we hospitalized in the intensive care unit on behalf of Internal Diseases and their effect on survival.

Methods

605 patients with no initial diagnosis of septic shock were evaluated retrospectively from 691 patients who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Internal Medicine for 1 year.

Results

Of the 605 patients, 343 were men, 262 were women, and the mean age was 67.04 ± 15.2 years. It When the distribution of infection rate according to sub-units was evaluated, blood and sputum culture growth was significantly higher in patients in the medical oncology and hematology departments, and the mortality rate in these cases was higher than other units. Other factors affecting the development of infection in intensive care patients were the length of stay, the duration of intubation, the need for vasopressor support, and the provision of invasive and non-invasive ventilation support.

Conclusions

Intensive care units are hospital departments where patients with severe clinical picture are monitored, invasive procedures are applied most intensively, nosocomial infections are most common, and mortality and hospital stay are the highest. Although hemodynamic status and comorbid diseases at the time of admission to intensive care are important in survival, duration of intensive care stay and development of infection are important factors affecting mortality.