Impact of the ICU admission of patients with COVID-19 on the outcomes of patients without COVID-19 in the ICU: a retrospective cohort study.

Chikashi Takeda, Masaaki Sakuraya, Sachiko Tanaka-Mizuno, Kotaro Sakurai, Shinichi Kai, Toshiyuki Mizota, Moritoki Egi

Abstract readMulticenter Study

In one paragraph

Article in Journal of anesthesia, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Association of anesthesia methods for limb and lower abdominal surgeries with postoperative outcomes in patients requiring home oxygen therapy: a nationwide cohort study in Japan.Journal of anesthesia · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Chikashi TakedaDepartment of Anesthesia, Kyoto University Hospital, 54 Shogoin-Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan. chikashi@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0903-0201

Masaaki SakurayaDivision of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, JA Hiroshima General Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan.

Sachiko Tanaka-MizunoDepartment of Pharmacoepidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.

Kotaro SakuraiDepartment of Anesthesia, Kyoto University Hospital, 54 Shogoin-Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.

Shinichi KaiDepartment of Anesthesia, Kyoto University Hospital, 54 Shogoin-Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.

Toshiyuki MizotaDepartment of Anesthesia, Kyoto University Hospital, 54 Shogoin-Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.

Moritoki EgiDepartment of Anesthesia, Kyoto University Hospital, 54 Shogoin-Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.

Funding

KAKENHI program 22K16590

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis study aimed to elucidate how the admission of patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) to the intensive care unit (ICU) impacts the mortality rate and management of patients without COVID-19 in the ICU, focusing on the condition of patients during and after ICU admission, which has not been sufficiently evaluated.

methodsThis multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted across 33 ICU facilities in Japan, using data from the Japanese Intensive Care Patient Database for fiscal years 2018-2020. Patients without COVID-19 were admitted to ICUs that also treated patients with COVID-19 during the study period. Of the 68,620 patients without COVID-19, 11,503 were admitted during the COVID-19 period. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. The secondary outcomes included ICU mortality, off-hour ICU discharge, ICU discharge with mechanical ventilation, and incidence of tracheotomy.

resultsAdjusted analyses revealed no significant difference in in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.90; p = 0.071) but lower ICU mortality (aOR = 0.75; p = 0.001) during the COVID-19 period. The COVID-19 period was associated with increased off-hour ICU discharges (aOR = 1.37; p < 0.001), higher tracheotomy rates (aOR = 1.45; p = 0.018), and increased ICU discharges requiring mechanical ventilation (aOR = 1.21; p = 0.006). Moreover, ICU bed occupancy rates were lower in patients without COVID-19.

conclusionIn-hospital mortality in patients without COVID-19 during the COVID-19 period was not significantly different from that during the non-COVID-19 period. While ICU mortality decreased, the tracheostomy rate, rate of patients requiring ventilators at the time of ICU discharge, and rate of transfer to other facilities increased.

Indexed as

COVID-19Intensive Care UnitsPatient AdmissionAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesFemaleHospital MortalityHumansJapanMaleMiddle AgedPatient DischargeRespiration, ArtificialRetrospective StudiesBed occupancyCOVID-19 pandemicIntensive care unitMortalityPatient discharge

Identifiers

PMID40676283

DOI10.1007/s00540-025-03549-z

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.