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Objective: Renal replacement therapy (RRT) is the treatment of choice for severe acute kidney injury, but there are no firm guidelines as to the time of initiation of RRT in the critically ill. The primary objective of this study is to determine 1-month mortality rates of early versus late dialysis in critical care. As secondary end points, we provide a cost analysis of early versus late RRT initiation, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, and number of patients on dialysis at day 60 postrandomization. Data Sources: We identified all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) through EMLINE and MEDBASE that examined adult patients admitted to critical care who were randomized to receiving early dialysis versus standard of care. Study Selection: Inclusion criteria: (1) RCTs conducted after the year 2000, (2) the population evaluated had to be adults admitted to ICU, (3) the intervention had to be early RRT versus standard care, and (4) outcomes had to measure patient mortality. Data Extraction: Two independent investigators reviewed search results and identified appropriate studies. Information was extracted using standardized case report forms. Data Synthesis: Overall, 7 RCTs were included with a total of 1400 patients. Early RRT showed no survival benefit when compared to standard treatment (odds ratio [OR], 0.90 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.70-1.15, P = .39). There was no significant difference in length of hospital stay in patients with early RRT (−1.55 days [95% CI −4.75 to 1.65, P = .34]), in length of ICU stay (−0.79 days [95% CI −2.09 to 0.52], P = .24), or proportion of patients on dialysis at day 60 (OR 0.93 [95% CI 0.62 to 1.43], P = .79). Per patient, there is likely a small increase in costs (

Introduction: The intensive care unit (ICU) consumes 20% of hospital expenditures and 1% of gross domestic product. Many strategies have been attempted to reduce ICU costs. A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effect of palliative care (PC) consultations in the ICU on length of stay (LOS) and costs. Methods: A literature search was performed using PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), prospective, and retrospective cohort studies looking at PC consultations in adult ICUs published between January 2000 and February 2016 were selected. Independent reviewers assessed the eligibility of studies, extracted data on ICU, hospital LOS, and mortality, and rated each study’s quality. The cost was derived from an existing model in the literature; the primary outcome was ICU LOS and the secondary outcomes were direct variable costs, mortality, and hospital LOS. Results: We reviewed 814 abstracts, but only 8 studies met inclusion criteria and were included. The patients with a PC consultation in the ICU, when compared to those who did not, showed a trend toward reduced LOS. This reduction was statistically significant in the higher quality studies. Mortality was similar in both groups. Palliative care consultations also lead to a reduction in costs in 5 of the 8 eligible trials. On average, ICU costs were USD7533 and USD6406 (control vs PC, P < .05) and hospital direct variable costs were USD9518 and USD8971 (P < .05) per admission. Due to interstudy heterogeneity, all outcomes were described narratively. Conclusion: This review demonstrates a trend that PC consultations reduce LOS and costs without impacting mortality. However, due to the small sample sizes and varying degrees of quality of evidence, many questions remain. A large multicenter RCT and formal economic evaluation would be needed for more definitive results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]