Abstract
The aim of this study was to report on fever epidemiology and management strategies within a general population of critically ill patients. This was a retrospective cohort study among febrile patients (temperature ≥38.3°C) without acute brain injury admitted to one of four regional adult intensive care units (ICUs).
There were 7535 ICU admissions over the 30-month study period. One hundred patients with fever were randomly selected for detailed analysis and represent the study population. The study population had a median age (interquartile range) of 56 (43–69) years and a mean (±standard deviation) Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score of 22 (±9). Septic shock was the most common admission diagnosis (36%), followed by pneumonia (without a shock syndrome; 18%). Fifty-three percent of patients had fever at ICU admission. To investigate the etiology of fever, most patients (89%) had at least one culture sent to the laboratory for analysis and a blood culture (73%) was the most commonly ordered microbiologic investigation. A chest X-ray was ordered in 95% of patients within 48 hours of fever onset. The majority of patients had an infection as the cause of their fever (73%), with pneumonia as the most common diagnosis (70%, 51/73). Prior to the occurrence of fever, 74% of patients were on antibiotics and this increased to 85% within the first 24 hours after documentation of fever. Seventy-nine percent of patients were managed with antipyretic drugs (77%) and/or external cooling (29%); however, only five patients had an order written that specifically guided the use of these temperature-lowering agents. Fever was most commonly infectious in origin. Treatment of patients with fever was a common and nonstandardized practice in this cohort of critically ill patients. This is likely due to lack of evidence in support of a particular temperature management strategy.
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