A retrospective evaluation of three ethical triage tools for the allocation of ICU resources during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To retrospectively evaluate the effect of ethical triage tools (ETT), designed to streamline the admission of patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to determine the characteristics and outcomes of the patients who would have been denied admission to the ICU according to these protocols, including the cumulative number of saved ICU days.

Methods

We retrospectively identified the ethical triage status in every patient who was admitted to our 31-bed mixed ICU in Antwerp, Belgium during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of the reason for admission. This study was possible since the capacity of our ICU had not been threatened, still enabling our usual case-per-case decision. We evaluated three different ETTs that were designed

SUBMITTER: Michielsen H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8501390 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature