Admission, discharge and triage guidelines for paediatric intensive care units in Spain

Patient discharge from intensive care: an updated scoping review to identify tools and practices to inform high-quality care

BACKGROUND

Critically ill patients require complex care and experience unique needs during and after their stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). Discharging or transferring a patient from the ICU to a hospital ward or back to community care (under the care of a general practitioner) includes several elements that may shape patient outcomes and overall experiences. The aim of this study was to answer the question: what elements facilitate a successful, high-quality discharge from the ICU?

METHODS

This scoping review is an update to a review published in 2015. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases from 2013-December 3, 2020 including adult, pediatric, and neonatal populations without language restrictions. Data were abstracted using different phases of care framework models, themes, facilitators, and barriers to the ICU discharge process.

RESULTS

We included 314 articles from 11,461 unique citations. Two-hundred and fifty-eight (82.2%) articles were primary research articles, mostly cohort (118/314, 37.6%) or qualitative (51/314, 16.2%) studies. Common discharge themes across all articles included adverse events, readmission, and mortality after discharge (116/314, 36.9%) and patient and family needs and experiences during discharge (112/314, 35.7%). Common discharge facilitators were discharge education for patients and families (82, 26.1%), successful provider-provider communication (77/314, 24.5%), and organizational tools to facilitate discharge (50/314, 15.9%). Barriers to a successful discharge included patient demographic and clinical characteristics (89/314, 22.3%), healthcare provider workload (21/314, 6.7%), and the impact of current discharge practices on flow and performance (49/314, 15.6%). We identified 47 discharge tools that could be used or adapted to facilitate an ICU discharge.

CONCLUSIONS

Several factors contribute to a successful ICU discharge, with facilitators and barriers present at the patient and family, health care provider, and organizational level. Successful provider-patient and provider-provider communication, and educating and engaging patients and families about the discharge process were important factors in a successful ICU discharge.

Reliability of the portable coagulometer qLabs to accurately measure the activated thromboplastin time and international normalized ratio: a prospective study in critically ill patients

: The current prospective study was aimed at investigating whether a portable coagulometer (qLabs) can be used to reliably monitor activated thromboplastin time (aPTT) and international normalized ratio (INR) in critically ill patients, as compared with standard central laboratory measurement. Both precision and accuracy of INR and aPTT measured by qLabs were assessed in this observational study by finger prick group (N = 30 patients) and blood droplet group from central venous catheter drawn (N = 60). For accuracy, clinical agreement percentage was ±0.3 for INR and ±10 s for aPTT. Precision of INR measurement in qLabs showed excellent intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC > 90%). Precision of aPTT measurement in qLabs was less acceptable for both finger prick [ICC: 0.70; Bland-Altman plot: 2.2 s (-19.8, 24.2)] and blood droplet [ICC: 0.50; Bland-Altman plot: 0.4 s (-70.9, 71.8)] groups. Accuracy of qLabs was acceptable for INR assessment (clinical agreement 90 and 81%, for finger prick and blood droplet groups, respectively), but not for aPTT (clinical agreement 55 and 68%, respectively). Accuracy of finger prick and blood droplet measurements in qLabs was better for INR and aPTT values near-to-normal (1.2 and 37 s, respectively). INR values from qLabs were consistent with the 'gold standard'. qLabs measurement is only reliable for aPTT values near-to-normal.