Association of Complication Rates and Intensive Care Unit Use With Sinonasal and Skull Base Malignancies: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Background: Patients with sinonasal and skull base malignancies experience many types of complications after surgery. The intensive care unit (ICU) provides a high level of care for these patients; however, the effect of ICU care on complication rates remains unclear. Methods: Between November 2014 and November 2022, we retrospectively analyzed 151 patients with sinonasal and skull base malignancies. Fifty-six of these patients were admitted to the ICU and 95 were admitted to the non-ICU after surgery. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to balance baseline characteristics. The complication rates of the ICU and non-ICU groups were compared. Results: Before PSM, the complication rate was 28.5%. Patients admitted to the ICU had a higher incidence of medical complications ( P = .032). Orbital injury (n = 9) and diplopia or visual changes (n = 9) were the most common surgical complications, whereas respiratory tract infections (n = 7) were the most common medical complications. After PSM, the incidences of surgical, medical, and all complications in the ICU and non-ICU groups were 23.8% and 19.0% ( P = .791), 16.7% and 9.5% ( P = .520), and 38.1% and 26.2% ( P = .350), respectively. Conclusions: This preliminary study revealed that ICU admission did not reduce the complication rate of patients with sinonasal and skull base malignancies. Further studies are required to validate these findings and clarify the potential role of the ICU.