Complications in critically ill adult patients’ transportations reported in the recent literature

Complications in critically ill adult patients’ transportations reported in the recent literature

Stefano Bambi, Alberto Lucchini, Diego Innocenti, Elisa Mattiussi

The transport of critically ill patients is a complex process, made up by several phases involving the healthcare professionals. It requires a careful planning for the prevention of potential complications undermining the patients’ safety outside critical care environment. Literature review about complications and adverse events reported during intra and inter-hospital transport of critically ill adult patients. Intra-hospital transfers are affected by adverse events rates ranging from 22.2 to 75.7% in the published literature. Major adverse events, defined as life threatening conditions that require urgent therapeutic intervention, vary from 4.2 to 31%. Death is a rare occurrence. Adverse events during interhospital have a maximum rate of 34%. Technical incidents represent a typical feature of these transports. Authors reported problems to gas supply, ambulance electric system, equipment. There is a lack of studies about the complications related to rotary wing inter-hospital transports. While extracorporeal membrane oxygenation/extracorporeal life support patients seem to be the most complex category of critically ill to be transported outside the hospital, 11 papers revealed only 29 adverse events ranging from 0 to 17%. No deaths were recorded. Currently, research must explore more accurately how much transports affect the outcome of patients, and what are the most appropriate time-frames to assess the consequences of transfers on patients’ clinical conditions.

2015

severe acute respiratory syndrome, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, transportation of patients, Mobile emergency unit

DOI: 10.4081/ecj.2015.4781

Emergency Care Journal

PAGEPress Publications

Medicine (General)

EN, IT