Frequency of Intensive Care Unit admission after elective interventional neuroradiological procedures under general anesthesia in a tertiary care hospital

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after elective interventional neuroradiology (INR) procedures under general anesthesia.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively evaluated 121 patients underwent INR procedures performed with general anesthesia within a 5-year period. Information including demographics, aneurysm/arteriovenous malformations pathology (ruptured or un-ruptured), preoperative neurological status, co-morbidities, complications during procedure and postoperative admission in ICU were recorded on a predesigned form.

Results: Elective INR procedure for both ruptured (n = 29, 24%) and un-ruptured (n = 85, 70.25%) aneurysms was performed. Rate of postoperative admission in ICU was significantly high in patients with preoperative ruptured aneurysm (P < 0.01). High rate of neurological deficit, sub-arachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and hypertension in patients were significant factors of postoperative admission in ICU (P < 0.05). Out of 24 patients, 12 were admitted to ICU postoperatively because of procedure-related complications and 11 were sent due to preexisting significant co-morbidities with added complication of SAH.

Conclusion: The authors conclude that patients without major co-morbidities, intraoperative complications, or complex aneurysm morphology can be safely observed in a regular ward rather than being admitted to the ICU.