Gynecology and obstetrical conditions requiring intensive care admission

OBJECTIVE: Gynecological admissions to the surgical intensive care unit vary from the obstetrical cases. Pregnant women are of prime age and can tolerate the pregnancy and delivery well. There are certain rare conditions or complications, which make the pregnant women's life pass through a critical time. These are dealt with in a high dependency area, which is short of the intensive care unit. In King Khalid University Hospital there is no such arrangement, so the mildly affected and critically ill patients together are cared for in the surgical intensive care unit. The objective of this study is to study the gynecological and obstetrical conditions requiring intensive care admission in King Khalid University Hospital, surgical intensive care unit.

METHODS: All obstetrical and gynecological patients who were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit were included. The demographic particulars, reason for admission, the course of the surgical intensive care unit stay and outcome were studied.

RESULTS: During the study period of 3 years, there were 83, (100%) obstetrical and gynecological admissions to the surgical intensive care unit. Two (2%) cases were due to anesthesia complications. The majority of causes of admissions were due to obstetrical (n=63, 76%) complications or combination of medical and surgical conditions. Gynecological admissions comprised only 18 (22%) cases. There was no mortality in the group studied.

CONCLUSION: Management of major obstetrical emergencies and gynaecological patients require an understanding of medical conditions’ influence on the patients, and the physiological changes of normal and abnormal pregnancies. Intensive care unit management is an essential part in raising the level of patient care; health personnel training and continuing health care education may be improved.