High-risk intrahospital transport of critically ill patients

Abstract

Intrahospital transport of critically ill patients is safe and carries a low risk of detrimental complications. Although patients requiring "high-risk" interventions experienced a higher mortality rate than did APACHE-matched controls, the increase in mortality does not appear to be directly related to the intrahospital transport. Patients requiring transport out of the surgical ICU are a more critically ill group of patients. These patients require a greater length of stay in the surgical ICU and may experience an increased mortality rate by virtue of the severity of their illness.