Preparing the Patient for ICU Transfer: What Is the Anesthesiologist’s Role?

• Published in: Current anesthesiology reports (Philadelphia) Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 461 - 466
• Main Authors: László, István, Végh, Tamás, Szántó, Dorottya, Juhász, Marianna, Molnár, Csilla, Fülesdi, Béla
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-12-2022
• Subjects: Anesthesiology; Critical Care Medicine; Intensive; Internal Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Patient Safety in Anesthesia (SJ Brull and JR Renew; Section Editors; Topical Collection on Patient Safety in Anesthesia; Critical incidents; High-risk surgery; Transportation team; Handover communication; Intrahospital transport; Critically ill patients
• ISSN: 2167-6275; 2167-6275
• DOI: 10.1007/s40140-022-00543-z

Purpose of Review
This review summarizes the anesthesiologist’s role in transferring critically ill surgical patients at different phases of care.
Recent Findings
Early recognition of patients at high intraoperative and postoperative risk is one of the most important first steps, followed by preoperative and intraoperative stabilization measures depending on the individual needs. It mainly is the anesthesiologist’s responsibility to decide on postoperative ICU admission. The transfer of the critically ill should be planned; the ICU staff has to be informed as early as possible. Locally developed checklists should be used during the preparation of patient transport. Trained, dedicated staff should be made available in every institution. A detailed handover using dedicated institutional flowcharts should ensure patient safety upon arrival to the ICU.
Summary
Transfer of critically ill patients from the OR to the ICU is an interdisciplinary task with a high probability of eventual incidents. Anesthesiologists should play a key role in all phases of the procedure to improve patient outcomes.