Bronchiolitis is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infection and hospitalization in infancy and some of the patients may require admission to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to severe form of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for ICU need. The study group was composed of 30 patients admitted to ICU with the diagnosis of bronchiolitis and 30 bronchiolitis patients that were treated in the regular ward at the same period were enrolled to the study as the control group. Clinical characteristics, laboratory and imaging data were collected and compared statistically. The mean age of the patients was 33.6±24.4 days and 202.8±179.8 days in the study and control groups respectively, p < 0.001. The presence of tachypnea at admission (96% of patient group and 70% of control group; p=0.01), having oxygen saturation less than 92% (100% of patient group and 27% of control group; p < 0.001), having radiological findings of bronchopneumonia and positive result for respiratory syncytial virus were also found to be significantly different in the study and control groups (p < 0.05).

Keywords: bronchiolitis, hospitalization, intensive care unit, risk factors