ArticleNeurocritical care2025
Postoperative Monitoring After Elective Intracranial Surgery in a Postanesthesia Care Unit is Safe, Efficient, and Cost-Effective.
Article in Neurocritical care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Level of evidence of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) strategies for elective craniotomy: An updated systematic review.Neurosurgical review · 2026Pooled it
- A cost-sensitive multiclass machine learning framework for postoperative neurosurgical triage (Neuro-TACTIC).Scientific reports · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study evaluates whether monitoring patients in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) after elective intracranial surgery is as safe and effective as intensive care unit (ICU) monitoring, focusing on postoperative complications and resource use.
methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary academic hospital, analyzing patients who underwent elective craniotomies from March 2013 to September 2023. Patients were allocated to PACU or ICU monitoring based on preoperative risk assessment and intraoperative events. Outcomes measured included complication rates, revision surgeries within 72 h, transfers from PACU to ICU, and ICU resource use.
resultsA total of 5638 consecutive patients (mean age 54 years, 56% female) were analyzed, of whom 96.0% were monitored in the PACU, whereas 3.7% required ICU admission due to high-risk conditions or intraoperative events. The early complication rate in PACU-monitored patients was 17.1%, with most complications occurring within the first 13.2 h (SD 17.0) post surgery. Revision surgery was required in 4.6% of cases, and transfers from the PACU to the ICU occurred in 1.9%. PACU monitoring reduced ICU use by 94.4% compared to an all-ICU strategy, with no compromise in safety or outcomes.
conclusionsPACU-based monitoring is a safe and efficient alternative to ICU care for elective craniotomy patients, offering comparable complication rates and outcomes. This approach significantly reduces ICU demand, providing a cost-effective strategy that optimizes critical care resources while maintaining patient safety.
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