Admission of advanced lung cancer patients to intensive care unit: a retrospective study of 76 patients.

BACKGROUND: Criteria for admitting patients with incurable diseases to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) remain unclear and have ethical implications.

METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated MICU outcomes and identified risk factors for MICU mortality in consecutive patients with advanced lung cancer admitted to two university-hospital MICUs in France between 1996 and 2006.

RESULTS: Of 76 included patients, 49 had non-small cell lung cancer (stage IIIB n = 20; stage IV n = 29). In 60 patients, MICU admission was directly related to the lung cancer (complication of cancer management, n = 30; cancer progression, n = 14; and lung-cancer-induced diseases, n = 17). Mechanical ventilation was required during the MICU stay in 57 patients. Thirty-six (47.4%) patients died in the MICU. Three factors were independently associated with MICU mortality: use of vasoactive agents (odds ratio [OR] 6.81 95% confidence interval [95%CI] [1.77-26.26], p = 0.005), mechanical ventilation (OR 6.61 95%CI [1.44-30.5], p = 0.015) and thrombocytopenia (OR 5.13; 95%CI [1.17-22.5], p = 0.030). In contrast, mortality was lower in patients admitted for a complication of cancer management (OR 0.206; 95%CI [0.058-0.738], p = 0.015). Of the 27 patients who returned home, four received specific lung cancer treatment after the MICU stay.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with acute complications of treatment for advanced lung cancer may benefit from MCIU admission. Further studies are necessary to assess outcomes such as quality of life after MICU discharge.