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ICU Triage

1. ICU admission criteria aim to prioritize patients who can benefit most from intensive monitoring and treatment that cannot be provided elsewhere, and who have potentially recoverable conditions. 2. Demand for ICU beds often exceeds supply, requiring triage based on factors like diagnosis, severity of illness, prognosis, and availability of treatment. 3. Prioritization models classify patients into groups based on illness severity and likelihood of benefitting from ICU care, with priority 1 being most critically ill and in need of intensive interventions.

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Akmal Fahrezzy
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161 views27 pages

ICU Triage

1. ICU admission criteria aim to prioritize patients who can benefit most from intensive monitoring and treatment that cannot be provided elsewhere, and who have potentially recoverable conditions. 2. Demand for ICU beds often exceeds supply, requiring triage based on factors like diagnosis, severity of illness, prognosis, and availability of treatment. 3. Prioritization models classify patients into groups based on illness severity and likelihood of benefitting from ICU care, with priority 1 being most critically ill and in need of intensive interventions.

Uploaded by

Akmal Fahrezzy
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ICU Admission and

Triage Criteria
Requests for ICU Beds
• excellent care
• abundant resources
– high nurse-patient ratios
– pharmacists,nutritionist, RT’s, etc
– high tech equipment
• signs of deterioration quickly identified
• “give them a chance”
• discomfort with death
• convenience
• Demand frequently exceeds supply
The “Expensive” Care Unit
• Canada
– 8% of total inpatient cost
– 0.2 % of GNP
– $1500 per day
• USA
– 20 - 28 % of total inpatient cost
– 0.8 to 1 % of the GNP
• 1 ICU day = 3 to 6 times non-ICU day
• Higher costs in non-survivors
• ICU resources are finite
ICU Admission Criteria
• A service for patients with
potentially recoverable conditions
who can benefit from more detailed
observation and invasive treatment
than can be safely provided in
general wards or high dependency
areas
ICU Triage
• admission criteria remain poorly defined
• identification of patients who can benefit
from ICU care is extremely difficult
• demand for ICU services exceeds supply
• rationing of ICU beds is common
Prioritization Model
• Priority 1
– critically ill, unstable
– require intensive treatment and monitoring that
cannot be provided elsewhere
– ventilator support
– continuous vasoactive infusions
– mechanical circulatory support
– no limits placed on therapy
– high likelihood of benefit
Prioritization Model
• Priority 2
– Require intensive monitoring
– May potentially need immediate intervention
– No therapeutic limits
– Chronic co-morbid conditions with acute
severe illness
Prioritization Model
• Priority 3
– Critically ill
– Reduced likelihood of recovery
– Severe underlying disease
– Severe acute illness
– Limits to therapies may be set
• no intubation, no CPR
– Metastatic malignancy complicated by infection,
tamponade, or airway obstruction
Prioritization Model
• Priority 4
– Generally not appropriate for ICU
– May admit on individual basis if unusual
circumstances
– Too well for ICU
• mild CHF, stable DKA, conscious drug overdose,
peripheral vascular surgery
– Too sick for ICU (terminal, irreversible)
• irreversible brain damage, irreversible multisystem
failure, metastatic cancer unresponsive to chemotherapy
Diagnosis Model
• Uses specific conditions or diseases to
determine appropriateness of ICU admission
• 48 diagnosis/ 8 organ systems
– Acute MI with complications
– cardiogenic shock
– complex arrhythmias
– acute respiratory failure
– status epilepticus, SAH
Objectives Parameters Model

• Vital signs
– HR < 40 or > 150
– SBP <80
– MAP <60
– DBP >120
– RR > 35

JCAHCO
Objectives Parameters Model

• Laboratory values
– Sodium < 110 or > 170
– Potassium <2.0 or > 7.0
– PaO2 < 50
– pH < 7.1 or > 7.7
– Glucose > 800 mg/dL
– Calcium > 15 mg/dL
– toxic drug level with compromise
Objectives Parameters Model

• Radiologic
– ICH, SAH, contusion with AMS or
focal neuro signs
– Ruptured viscera, bladder, liver,
uterus with hemodynamic instability
– Dissecting aorta
Objectives Parameters Model

• EKG
– acute MI with complex arrhythmias,
hemodynamic instability, or CHF
– sustained VT or VF
– complete heart block with instability
Objectives Parameters Model
• Physical findings (acute onset)
– unequal pupils with LOC
– burns > 10%BSA
– anuria
– airway obstruction
– coma
– continuous seizures
– cyanosis
– cardiac tamponade
ICU Admission Criteria
• Potential or established organ failure
• Factors to be considered
– Diagnosis
– Severity of illness
– Age and functional status
– Co-existing disease
– Physiological reserve
– Prognosis
– Availability of suitable treatment
– Response to treatment to date
– Recent cardiopulmonary arrest
– Anticipated quality of life
– The patient’s wishes
Discharge Criteria
• physiologic status has stabilized
– need for ICU monitoring and care no longer
necessary
• physiologic status has deteriorated
– active interventions no longer planned
Intermediate Care Units
• monitoring and care of patients with moderate or
potentially severe physiologic instability
• require technical support
• frequent monitoring of vital signs
• frequent nursing interventions
• not necessarily artificial life support
• do not require invasive monitoring
• require less care than ICU
• require more care than general ward
Intermediate Care Units
• 22% of ICU bed days
• 6180/17440 admissions with less than a
10% risk of requiring active treatment
based on this monitoring
• reduced costs with ICU demonstrated
• increased patient satisfaction
Intermediate Care Units
• reduces costs
• reduces ICU LOS
• no negative impact on outcome
• improves patient/family satisfaction
ICU Outcome Studies
• no difference ICU vs. Ward for CEA
• femoral bypass
• GI bleeds
• drug overdose
• bone marrow transplants
• closed units
• AAA
ICU Triage
• Patients should be admitted if they can
benefit with decreased risk of death

• patients with reversible medical


conditions who have a “reasonable”
prospect of substantial recovery
– NIH Concensus conference
ICU Triage
• good prognosis over poor
• likelihood of benefit
• life expectancy due to disease
• anticipated quality of life
• wishes of patient or surrogate
• obligations to current patients outweigh
new patients
ICU Triage
• “Too well to benefit”
– Possibility of being detrimental by providing
overly aggressive care
– Procedure complications
– Increased chance of multi-resistant infections
– Patients who will survive anyway should not
be admitted for anticipatory monitoring
ICU Triage
• “Too sick to benefit”

– Hopelessly ill patients should not


be admitted to an ICU
ICU Triage
• age
• diagnosis - good or bad
• number of ICU beds available
• patients refused admission had higher
APACHE scores
• Sprung et al, CCM 1999;27:1073-1079
ICU Triage
• Intensive therapy not available elsewhere
– reasonable survival with, death without
• Monitored patients at high risk of
complications
• Comatose with poor quality of life expected
• Little likelihood of survival
• Monitored patients at low risk for
complications

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