Abstract
The severity of patient illnesses and medication complexity in post-operative critically ill patients increase the risk for a prolonged QT interval. We determined the prevalence of prolonged QTc in surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients. We performed a prospective cross-sectional study over a 15-month period at a major academic center. SICU pre-admission and admission EKGs, patient demographics, and laboratory values were analyzed. QTc was evaluated as both a continuous and dichotomous outcome (prolonged QTc > 440 ms). 281 patients were included in the study: 92 % (n = 257) post-operative and 8 % (n = 24) non-operative. On pre-admission EKGs, 32 % of the post-operative group and 42 % of the non-operative group had prolonged QTc (p = 0.25); on post-admission EKGs, 67 % of the post-operative group but only 33 % of the non-operative group had prolonged QTc (p
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 437-443 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1 2016 |
Keywords
- Arrhythmia
- Long QT
- Post-operative
- Surgical intensive care unit
- Torsades de pointes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
- Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine
- Health Informatics