Table 1 Study patients stratified by dopamine and noradrenaline use status
|  | Dopamine (N = 2750) | Dopamine + noradrenaline (N = 1903) | Noradrenaline (N = 9941) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Year = 2019 (%) | 1546 (56.2) | 1092 (57.4) | 6100 (61.4) |  < 0.001 |
Age (mean years, SD) | 69.6 (12.4) | 69.6 (12.6) | 69.3 (13.6) | 0.488 |
Gender (Male, %) | 1788 (65.0) | 1261 (66.3) | 6507 (65.5) | 0.677 |
Weight (mean kg, SD) | 59.2 (12.7) | 60.2 (13.9) | 58.6 (13.9) |  < 0.001 |
Height (mean cm, SD) | 160.5 (10.3) | 160.9 (10.2) | 160.7 (10.1) | 0.309 |
Comorbidities (%) | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Acquired immune deficiency syndrome | 1 (0.0) | 3 (0.2) | 9 (0.1) | 0.393 |
 Congestive heart failure | 115 (4.2) | 73 (3.8) | 249 (2.5) |  < 0.001 |
 Respiratory failure | 29 (1.1) | 17 (0.9) | 236 (2.4) |  < 0.001 |
 Cirrhosis | 19 (0.7) | 18 (0.9) | 209 (2.1) |  < 0.001 |
 Use of immunosuppressants | 210 (7.6) | 93 (4.9) | 861 (8.7) |  < 0.001 |
 Hemodialysis | 177 (6.4) | 159 (8.4) | 781 (7.9) | 0.022 |
 Acute leukemia or lymphoma | 16 (0.6) | 25 (1.3) | 213 (2.1) |  < 0.001 |
 Cancer with metastases | 72 (2.6) | 39 (2.0) | 338 (3.4) | 0.002 |
Days before ICU after hospital admission (mean days, SD) | 7.5 (17.5) | 9.2 (17.7) | 9.4 (27.2) | 0.001 |
Code blue or activation of Rapid Response Team/Medical Emergency Team (%) | 35 (1.3) | 62 (3.3) | 648 (6.5) |  < 0.001 |
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation prior to ICU admission (%) | 87 (3.2) | 140 (7.4) | 731 (7.4) |  < 0.001 |
Reason for ICU admission (%) |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Transfer from ward | 153 (5.6) | 257 (13.5) | 2061 (20.7) |  |
 Transfer from emergency room | 310 (11.3) | 296 (15.6) | 2636 (26.5) |  |
 Elective surgery | 1821 (66.2) | 984 (51.7) | 3033 (30.5) |  |
 Urgent surgery | 376 (13.7) | 287 (15.1) | 1596 (16.1) |  |
 Other | 90 (3.3) | 79 (4.2) | 615 (6.2) |  |
Diagnosis code (%) | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Cardiovascular | 1817 (66.1) | 1421 (74.7) | 4128 (41.5) |  < 0.001 |
 Valvular surgery | 565 | 365 | 902 |  |
 Coronary artery bypass graft surgery | 294 | 277 | 780 |  |
 Cardiac arrest | 63 | 106 | 585 |  |
 Infection | 93 (3.4) | 207 (10.9) | 2709 (27.3) |  < 0.001 |
 Post-surgery, Gastrointestinal tract perforation/rupture | 34 | 54 | 508 |  |
 Bacterial pneumonia | 10 | 24 | 446 |  |
 Septic shock | 3 | 36 | 426 |  |
 Other | 840 (30.5) | 275 (14.5) | 3104 (31.2) |  < 0.001 |
 Post-surgery, gastrointestinal tumor | 373 | 43 | 420 |  |
 Other respiratory disease | 9 | 10 | 283 |  |
 Post-surgery, oral/pharyngeal/nasal/trachea | 86 | 9 | 115 |  |
APACHE III (mean, SD) | 64.9 (22.8) | 79.1 (31.1) | 83.0 (31.2) |  < 0.001 |
SAPS II (mean, SD) | 35.9 (14.4) | 45.0 (18.7) | 47.3 (18.5) |  < 0.001 |
Mechanical ventilation during the first 24 h (%) | 2198 (80) | 1695 (89) | 7538 (76) |  < 0.001 |
AKI during the first 24 h (%) | 63 (2.3) | 128 (6.7) | 786 (7.9) |  < 0.001 |
Adrenaline during the first 24 h (%) | 42 (1.5) | 79 (4.2) | 440 (4.4) |  < 0.001 |
Dobutamine during the first 24 h (%) | 810 (29.5) | 835 (43.9) | 2965 (29.8) |  < 0.001 |