Length of stay
Overall hospital length of stay (LOS) was reported for 10 out of 11 comparative studies2,15,20,45,46,49-51, with three reporting a significantly decreased LOS for Witness patients compared to the non-Witness group (10.3 vs 13.4 days, p=0.03245; 7.0 vs 8.0 days, p<0.00115 and 12.2 vs 17.3 days, p=0.0547, respectively). Studies which only described outcomes for Witnesses stated similar LOS times ranging from 58, 8.1±4.84, 9.83±7.9252 and 12.81±6.5843 days.
Seven of the 11 studies mentioned ICU LOS times2,15,44,45,47-49, with one study finding a difference was between the two groups (Witness vs non-Witness: 25 vs 48 hours, p<0.00115). Non-comparative studies were found to state a wide range of ICU LOS times, ranging from 24 to 103.68±92.64 hours4,43,57. Duce et al. found that Witnesses not given EPO preoperatively were less likely to remain in ICU for more than 24 hours8 and Ramiaramananaet al. saw a significant difference in LOS for Witnesses classified as low vs high risk (68.4 vs 156 hours, respectively (p=0.01)53). The difference in results may be again due to the vast array of different surgeries and techniques used in the studies.