Journal Article

Outcomes in Critically Ill Patients with Cancer-Related Complications

Silva, Eliezer, Torres, Viviane B. L., Teles, José M. M., Rezende, Ederlon, Bozza, Fernando A., Silva, Ulysses V. A., Torelly, André P., Azevedo, Luciano C. P., Spector, Nelson, Knibel, Marcos, Soares, Marcio, Salluh, Jorge I. F., Vassalo, Juliana, Netto, José J. S., Caruso, Pedro, Piras, Claudio

2016

Overview

Cancer patients are at risk for severe complications related to the underlying malignancy or its treatment and, therefore, usually require admission to intensive care units (ICU). Here, we evaluated the clinical characteristics and outcomes in this subgroup of patients. Secondary analysis of two prospective cohorts of cancer patients admitted to ICUs. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify variables associated with hospital mortality. Out of 2,028 patients, 456 (23%) had cancer-related complications. Compared to those without cancer-related complications, they more frequently had worse performance status (PS) (57% vs 36% with PS≥2), active malignancy (95% vs 58%), need for vasopressors (45% vs 34%), mechanical ventilation (70% vs 51%) and dialysis (12% vs 8%) (P<0.001 for all analyses). ICU (47% vs. 27%) and hospital (63% vs. 38%) mortality rates were also higher in patients with cancer-related complications (P<0.001). Chemo/radiation therapy-induced toxicity (6%), venous thromboembolism (5%), respiratory failure (4%), gastrointestinal involvement (3%) and vena cava syndrome (VCS) (2%) were the most frequent cancer-related complications. In multivariable analysis, the presence of cancer-related complications per se was not associated with mortality [odds ratio (OR) = 1.25 (95% confidence interval, 0.94-1.66), P = 0.131]. However, among the individual cancer-related complications, VCS [OR = 3.79 (1.11-12.92), P = 0.033], gastrointestinal involvement [OR = 3.05 (1.57-5.91), P = <0.001] and respiratory failure [OR = 1.96(1.04-3.71), P = 0.038] were independently associated with in-hospital mortality. The prognostic impact of cancer-related complications was variable. Although some complications were associated with worse outcomes, the presence of an acute cancer-related complication per se should not guide decisions to admit a patient to ICU.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Aged / Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects / Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use / Biology and Life Sciences / Blood cancer / Cancer / Cancer patients / Care and treatment / Comorbidity / Complications / Confidence intervals / Critical Illness / Data collection / Dialysis / Education / Failure / Female / Gastric cancer / Gastrointestinal Diseases - complications / Health risks / Hematologic Diseases - etiology / Hospital Mortality / Hospitals / Humans / Intensive care / Intensive Care Units / Internal medicine / Logistic Models / Male / Malignancy / Mechanical ventilation / Medicine / Medicine and Health Sciences / Middle Aged / Mortality / Neoplasm Staging / Neoplasms - complications / Neoplasms - drug therapy / Neoplasms - mortality / Neoplasms - pathology / Odds Ratio / Patient outcomes / Patients / People and Places / Prognosis / Prospective Studies / Radiation / Radiation therapy / Regression analysis / Renal Dialysis / Respiration, Artificial / Respiratory failure / Respiratory Insufficiency - complications / Secondary analysis / Sepsis / Statistical analysis / Stomach cancer / Studies / Subgroups / Surgery / Thromboembolism / Toxicity / Venous Thromboembolism - complications / Ventilation