Incidence of unplanned intensive care unit admission following surgery and associated factors in Amhara regional state hospitals

Unplanned postoperative critical care admission poses a potential risk to patients and places unanticipated pressure on clinical services and it has become an important parameter to assess patient safety in perioperative services. This study was aimed to determine the incidence of unplanned intensive care unit admission following surgery and the associated factors. A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted on postoperative patients admitted to the ICU of three hospitals located in the Amhara region. Data were collected via a structured survey tool and analyzed using SPSS version 23 software with binary logistic regression analysis. The statistical significance to identify patient, anesthetic and surgical related factors in the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative period was < 0.05 for multivariable regression with a 95% confidence interval. Predominantly patients were admitted to the ICU in an unplanned manner. ASA status, preoperative hemoglobin (Hgb) level, intraoperative estimated blood loss, and adverse events occurring in the operating room were significantly associated with intensive care unit admission following surgery. Patients who had a low preoperative Hgb value were 35.1 times more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit in an unplanned manner compared with their counterparts [(Adjust odds ratio (AOR) 35.16; CI 12.82, 96.44)]. Patients with ASA II and III were 19.4 and 16.2 times more likely to be admitted to ICU in an unplanned way compared to patients who had ASA I physical status [(AOR 51.79; CI 8.28, 323.94) (AOR 67.8 CI 14.68, 313.53)]. Unplanned ICU admission after surgery was high in this study, suggesting poor perioperative planning, risk stratification, and optimization of patients.