Chew, Michelle S.Kattainen, SallaHaase, NicolaiBuanes, Eirik A.Kristinsdóttir, Linda B.Hofsø, KristinLaake, Jon HenrikKvåle, ReidarHästbacka, JohannaReinikainen, MattiBendel, StepaniVarpula, TeroWalther, StenPerner, AndersFlaatten, Hans K.Sigurðsson, Martin Ingi2025-11-202025-11-202022-01Chew, M S, Kattainen, S, Haase, N, Buanes, E A, Kristinsdóttir, L B, Hofsø, K, Laake, J H, Kvåle, R, Hästbacka, J, Reinikainen, M, Bendel, S, Varpula, T, Walther, S, Perner, A, Flaatten, H K & Sigurðsson, M I 2022, 'A descriptive study of the surge response and outcomes of ICU patients with COVID-19 during first wave in Nordic countries', Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, vol. 66, no. 1, pp. 56-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/aas.139830001-5172422141755f1fa951-6405-4cd2-a0c0-4226404ff6a18511613283834570897000702990200001https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/6495Funding: NordForsk (Nordic COVID-19 Activities), Finnish Society of Intensive Care. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons LtdBackground: We sought to provide a description of surge response strategies and characteristics, clinical management and outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) during the first wave of the pandemic in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Methods: Representatives from the national ICU registries for each of the five countries provided clinical data and a description of the strategies to allocate ICU resources and increase the ICU capacity during the pandemic. All adult patients admitted to the ICU for COVID-19 disease during the first wave of COVID-19 were included. The clinical characteristics, ICU management and outcomes of individual countries were described with descriptive statistics. Results: Most countries more than doubled their ICU capacity during the pandemic. For patients positive for SARS-CoV-2, the ratio of requiring ICU admission for COVID-19 varied substantially (1.6%–6.7%). Apart from age (proportion of patients aged 65 years or over between 29% and 62%), baseline characteristics, chronic comorbidity burden and acute presentations of COVID-19 disease were similar among the five countries. While utilization of invasive mechanical ventilation was high (59%–85%) in all countries, the proportion of patients receiving renal replacement therapy (7%–26%) and various experimental therapies for COVID-19 disease varied substantially (e.g. use of hydroxychloroquine 0%–85%). Crude ICU mortality ranged from 11% to 33%. Conclusion: There was substantial variability in the critical care response in Nordic ICUs to the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, including usage of experimental medications. While ICU mortality was low in all countries, the observed variability warrants further attention.949612956-64eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessCOVID-19mortalityNordicSARS-CoV2Intensive Care UnitsSARS-CoV-2PandemicsHumansAdultCritical CareAgedAnesthesiology and Pain MedicineSDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being/dk/atira/pure/researchoutput/researchoutputtypes/contributiontojournal/article10.1111/aas.13983