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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Intensive Care Medicine and Anesthesiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1517344
This article is part of the Research Topic Integrated Perspectives on the 2023 Turkey and Syria Earthquakes: Advancing Understanding and Preparedness across Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Public Health View all articles

Evaluation of the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted to intensive care units after the Kahramanmaras (Türkiye) earthquake: A multicenter observational study

Provisionally accepted
Burcin Halacli Burcin Halacli 1*Goksel Guven Goksel Guven 1Esat Kivanc Kaya Esat Kivanc Kaya 1Mehmet Yildirim Mehmet Yildirim 1Nihal Deniz Bulut Yuksel Nihal Deniz Bulut Yuksel 2Gamze Kocak Gamze Kocak 2Kadir Bulut Kadir Bulut 3Derful Gulen Derful Gulen 3Begum Erdemir Sullu Begum Erdemir Sullu 4Banu Kilicaslan Banu Kilicaslan 4Asir Eren Seven Asir Eren Seven 5Emin Gemcioglu Emin Gemcioglu 5Meltem Şimşek Meltem Şimşek 5Recep Civan Yuksel Recep Civan Yuksel 6Sahin Temel Sahin Temel 6Ahmet Safa Kaynar Ahmet Safa Kaynar 6Kamil Deveci Kamil Deveci 7Nilgun Alptekinoglu Mendil Nilgun Alptekinoglu Mendil 2Emre Aydin Emre Aydin 8Birkan Ulger Birkan Ulger 7Aliye Esmaoglu Aliye Esmaoglu 6Nazlihan Boyaci Dundar Nazlihan Boyaci Dundar 9Ebru Ortac Ersoy Ebru Ortac Ersoy 1Kursat Gundogan Kursat Gundogan 6Seda Akinci Seda Akinci 4Arzu Topeli Arzu Topeli 1
  • 1 Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
  • 2 Mersin City Hospital, Toroslar, Mersin, Türkiye
  • 3 Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital, Istanbul, Türkiye
  • 4 Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye
  • 5 Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye
  • 6 Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye
  • 7 Kayseri City Hospital, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health Sciences, Kayseri, Türkiye
  • 8 Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Diyarbakir, Türkiye
  • 9 Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The outcomes of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) after earthquakes that occurred on the 6th of February 2023 in Türkiye are unknown. Our objective was to delineate the demographic and clinical characteristics, therapeutic approaches, and ICU outcomes of earthquake victims who were hospitalized in Turkish ICUs.Methods: This was a retrospective multicenter study of adult patients admitted to twelve ICUs across eight tertiary hospitals located in five different cities within two weeks after consecutive earthquakes. Clinical and laboratory data were documented at four specific time intervals: upon hospital admission and during the first, second, and third days of ICU admission. To identify independent predictors of ICU mortality, a binary logistic regression model was used for variables identified from the univariate analysis.Results: A total of 201 patients were admitted to ICUs. The median age of the entire cohort was 36 years. 87 patients were male (43.3%), and 114 were female (56.7%). The majority of patients (79.1%) were initially admitted to the emergency department. The median duration of being trapped under the rubble was 12 hours. The primary reason (63.7%) for ICU admission was crush syndrome. Acute kidney injury (AKI) was identified in 61.5% of patients. Of 201 patients, 184 had information regarding ICU survival. The ICU mortality rate was 10%. A fiveyear increase in age, the presence of crush syndrome, and the requirement for vasopressor therapy during ICU care were independently associated with increased ICU mortality rates, while an increase of one point in the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score was favorable for ICU mortality.This study demonstrated that crush syndrome accounted for 63.7% of the reasons for ICU admissions. The ICU mortality rate was recorded as 10%. Noteworthy independent risk

    Keywords: disaster, Crush Syndrome, Survival, Fluid balance, Renal Replacement Therapy

    Received: 25 Oct 2024; Accepted: 31 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Halacli, Guven, Kaya, Yildirim, Bulut Yuksel, Kocak, Bulut, Gulen, Erdemir Sullu, Kilicaslan, Seven, Gemcioglu, Şimşek, Yuksel, Temel, Kaynar, Deveci, Alptekinoglu Mendil, Aydin, Ulger, Esmaoglu, Boyaci Dundar, Ortac Ersoy, Gundogan, Akinci and Topeli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Burcin Halacli, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye

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