Endpoint
Intensive care unit length of stay
CAT:outcome/icu-length-of-stayreported in days
Method
Elapsed days from intensive care unit (or paediatric intensive care unit) admission to intensive care unit discharge.
The method is part of the endpoint identity. Studies measuring the same quantity by a different method are held as separate endpoints.
Notes
NO ABBREVIATION "LOS" IS DECLARED ON EITHER LENGTH-OF-STAY NODE, deliberately. "LOS" abbreviates the substring the two endpoints SHARE, so it discriminates nothing; the token that decides is "ICU" or "hospital". It was briefly declared on the hospital node and that made every correctly-written "ICU LOS" span unrecordable while admitting bare "LOS" spans that name neither. Measured on 2026-08-26 across every pass file on disk: three spans read "ICU LOS", six read "hospital LOS", and four read a bare "LOS" whose sentence never says which stay. The bare four are the ones the declaration was added for and they are the ones that should refuse. Hospital length of stay is the superset and is reported in the same papers with different values (PMIDs 38216185, 37880041, 39574288). These days are nested inside those, so carrying both from one trial as independent findings double-counts one admission; and an intervention can shorten critical-care time while total admission is set by discharge planning and social factors it does not touch. Also distinct from duration of mechanical ventilation, a shorter device-exposure window inside this one, and SIGN INVERSION against any duration endpoint that improves by RISING, such as CAT:outcome/time-to-exhaustion.
Findings
3 findings from 3 compounds, strongest first.
methylene blue — decreases
Well establishedGrade A, Well established. Replicated human trial evidence, consistent direction.Finding“The results showed that MB reduced the ICU LOS in patients with distributive shock (MD: −1.54; 95% CI −2.61 to −0.48; p=0.004; I2=25%; table 2).”
Quoted verbatim from Effect of methylene blue on outcomes in patients with distributive shock: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.. - Study
- meta-analysis
- Participants
- 141
- Population
- adults with distributive shock (septic shock, vasoplegic syndrome, ischaemia-reperfusion injury); secondary endpoint; 3 trials, n = 141
Effect -1.54 mean difference, 95% CI -2.61 to -0.48
Effect of methylene blue on outcomes in patients with distributive shock: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.2024PMID:38216185
coenzyme Q10 — no detected effect on
Well establishedGrade A, Well established. Replicated human trial evidence, consistent direction.FindingNull result“ICU length of stay in the CoQ10 group (18.83 ± 10.72) was shorter than the placebo group (23.60 ± 10.03); however, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.122).”
Quoted verbatim from Coenzyme Q10 supplementation in burn patients: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.. - Study
- RCT
- Participants
- 52
- Duration
- 10 days
- Dose
- 100 mg three times a day after meals, total 300 mg/day
- Population
- Adults aged 18-65 with 20-60% total body surface area burns admitted to a burn ICU in Isfahan, Iran, all receiving routine burn care and the unit's standard vitamin, selenium, zinc and B-complex supplementation in both arms; secondary outcome.
Coenzyme Q10 supplementation in burn patients: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.2024PMID:38431600
melatonin — decreases
LikelyGrade B, Likely. Human evidence, limited replication or design limits.Finding“However, melatonin group demonstrated significantly lower serum HMGB-1 and NT-pro-BNP concentrations along with shorter duration of MV and less need for oxygen therapy and shorter length of NICU stay compared to control group.”
Quoted verbatim from Melatonin effects on the left ventricular function in neonates with persistent pulmonary hypertension.. - Study
- RCT
- Dose
- Oral melatonin 10 mg/kg/day for five doses, started within the first 24 h; melatonin tablets crushed, suspended in 5 mL normal saline and given by orogastric tube, in addition to standard care
- Population
- Neonates of at least 36 weeks' gestation with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), neonatal intensive care unit, Tanta University Hospitals, Egypt; n=80 randomised and analysed (40 melatonin plus standard care, 40 placebo plus standard care); NICU length of stay was a pre-specified SECONDARY clinical outcome (primary outcome was LV function at end of therapy, with LV-GLS the principal endpoint); open to clinicians, outcome assessors blinded
Melatonin effects on the left ventricular function in neonates with persistent pulmonary hypertension.2026PMID:41954764