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Emergency medical teams are underutilized in the care of critical surgical patients
(Science Letter Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
Emergency medical teams are underutilized in the care of critical surgical patients.
"Medical emergency teams (MET) have been shown to reduce in-hospital morbidity and mortality of surgical patients. The present study reviews the experience with the use of MET in the care of critically unwell surgical patients, wrote K. Wong and colleagues, John Hunter Hospital.
"Data were prospectively collected on all patients in a general surgical unit of a tertiary referral centre meeting the criteria for activating a MET over a 6 month period," scientists reported in ANZ Journal of Surgery.
"These data," they explained, "were retrospectively analyzed with respect it) surgical team and MET involvement in the care of these patients. Over the 6 month study period, 22 patients qualified for a MET response based oil criteria of physiological instability.
"A MET was activated for 13 of these patients (59%). with the remainder being managed by direct consultation with intensive care and medical staff. Forty-six per cent of MET activations were outside of normal working hours, Respiratory distress including tachypnoea and desaturation was the most commonly identified physiological abnormality 13 patients), accounting for 62% of MET activations."
Wong and coworkers continued, "A MET was activated by a surgical registrar in 46% of cases. Seventy-seven per cent [77%] of MET activations were preceded by at least one registrar level assessment without resolution of the patient's clinical deterioration."
"The most common MET interventions were supplementation of oxygen therapy and initiation of pharmacotherapy (I I patients). The Surgical learn complemented the MET response by providing detailed information regarding the patient's surgical condition, premorbid status (13 patients), organized transfer to the operating theatre (three patients), initiated blood transfusions (two patients) and deciding to order abdominal computed tomography (two patients)."
They added, "Urgent surgical decision making was required in 23% of MET activations, Medical emergency team activations for critically unwell Surgical patients are complemented by surgical learn involvement in the decision making and management process."
The researchers concluded, "The MET may be underutilized in the management of unwell surgical patients."
Wong and colleagues published their study in ANZ Journal of Surgery (Do surgeons need to look after unwell patients? The role of medical emergency teams ANZ J Surg, 2005;75(10):848-851).
For more information, contact K. Wong, Unit 13, 16-18 Bellbrook Avenue, Sydney, NSW 2077, Australia.
Publisher contact information for the ANZ Journal of Surgery is: Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Rd., Oxford OX4 2DQ, Oxon, England.
Keywords: New Castle, Australia, Critical Care Medicine, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Hematology, Intensive Care, Medical Emergency Team, Respiratory System, Surgical Critical Care, Surgical Training, Transfusion, Transfusion Medicine.
This article was prepared by Science Letter editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Science Letter via NewsRx.com.
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