Introduction:

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is one of the neurosurgical diseases with the highest mortality rate, not only due to the initial hemorrhage, but also due to complications that may arise subsequently.

Objective:

To determine the prevalence of complications related to SAH in patients admitted to intensive care.

Methodology:

A retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional observational design with an analytical component was applied. All patients over 18 years of age diagnosed with SAH and admitted to the intensive care unit at the National Hospital in Itauguá, Paraguay, between 2023 and 2025 were included. The sampling was non-probabilistic of consecutive cases. Data were collected from reviews of patients' medical records. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis with the Jamovi™ statistical program. The chi2 test was used to search for associations between qualitative variables, and a p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The research protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidad del Pacífico, Paraguay.

Results:

A total of 115 patients were included, with a mean age of 54 ± 13 years. 61.7% were women, and most came from rural areas (38.1%). The most frequent comorbidity was hypertension (73%). The most common symptom was headache (83.5%), 87.3% had complications from SAH, the most frequent being rebleeding (61.8%), while mortality was 35.6%.

Conclusion:

There was a predominance of women, most of whom were hypertensive, and the most common symptom was headache. Most patients had complications associated with SAH, the most frequent being rebleeding, while mortality was high.

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