Discharge of emergency patients to the clinical wards or intensive care units: An assessment of complications and possible shortcomings

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the most common complications and possible shortcomings in the emergency patients who were admitted to the clinical wards or intensive care units.Materials and methods: 1000 patients were included in this study. The patients's complication rates were compared with the clinical diagnosis, age groups, the section of the emergency department initially managed the patients, the time of the shift (daytime or night), the accompanying medical staff and specific type of patient populations. Also the interventions of the complications were recorded.Results: 37.5% of the patients who were included in the study were female and 62.5% were male. The median age of the patients was 54.2 year (min: 1 max:92). The vital signs that were recorded prior to transport of the patients did not interfere with the complication rates (p > 0.05). Complication rates in the night were found to be higher as more admissions took place during the night shift (p < 0.05). The complication rates were found higher in patients who were admitted to coronary care unit. The most frequent complication was the dislocation of the intravenous catheter. Replacing the dislocated intravenous catheter was the most frequently noted intervention. However, initiating inotropic agents to the hypotensive patients was done more frequently in the admitted clinical departments.Conclusion: The overall complication rate was low in this series of patients. The majority of them can be prevented by having in house guidelines. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.