s / Australian Critical Care 27 (2014) 43–63 49 concentration prepared, who usually prepared the drug and what current safety practices were used. Results:Thirty-eight responses to the surveywere received representing 29 ICUs, approximately 17% of all adult ICUs in Australia and NZ. Two specialist peadiatric ICUs also responded. Seventeen respondents (60%) were currently using at least one pre-prepared infusion, most commonly heparin (8/17), epidurals (6/17) or opiates for patient controlled analgesia (11/17). Significant variation in final concentration was observed for all infusionsexcept insulinandesmolol. Thefinal volumevaried significantly for all drugs. Other than the small number of pre-prepared infusions, nursing staff prepared all infusions. Labellingwas usually hand-written with some colour-coding. Ninety percent of respondents identified safety and 68% identified efficiency as likely to be improved by the use of pre-prepared infusions. Conclusion: Significant variation exists in the preparation of commonly used infusions across ICUs in Australia andNZ. Rationalisation and standardisation of practice would improve safety and efficiency. A nationally or regionally coordinated response could potentially reduce the barrier of cost. Disclosureof interest:Anunrestricted researchgrant fromBaxter HealthCare supported the conduct of this study. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aucc.2013.10.019 Implementing a point of care testing (POCT) service improves management of haemostatic dysfunction in cardiac surgery patients B. Pearse1,∗, D. Wall1, I. Smith1, D. Faulke1, I. Rapchuck1, J. Fraser2, J. McGree3, L. Drake1, P. Tesar1, Yl. Fung2 1 The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia 2 Critical Care Research Group, UQ, 7 School of Mathematical Sciences, QUT, Australia 3 Critical Care Research Group, UQ, Australia Introduction:Somebleeding is anexpectedconsequenceof cardiac surgery. Excessive or uncontrolled bleeding is a complication requiring timelymanagement andmay require blood transfusion/s. Turnaround times for standard laboratory tests (SLT’s) is often too slow to guide treatment. Hence, blood products are often transfused before SLT results are available. Blood product transfusion is not without risk and is independently associated with increased risk for morbidity/mortality. Objectives: To improve diagnosis of haemostatic dysfunction and bleeding management, in July 2012 we commenced the implementation of a clinician driven POCT service using rotationalthromboelastometry (ROTEM) and platelet function (Multiplate) at The Prince Charles Hospital. Methods: A multidisciplinary, multimodal approach was taken and involved appointment of a project lead, identifying stakeholders, developing a project plan, educating POCT operators/interpreters, developing quality control infrastructure and monitoring/analysing outcomes. Results: A comparison of post POCT implementation data with historical controls demonstrated a decrease in percentage patients receiving RBC’s (p=2.965e−08), FFP (p<2.2e−16) and platelets (p<2.2e−16). Units per patient was reduced for RBC (p=1.8413e−09), FFP (p=5.4988e−25) and platelets (p=8.5073e−27). A significant decrease was seen in reexploration rate for bleeding (p=0.0509) and median hospital LOS (p=9.3657e−09). Conclusions: Implementation of our POCT service reduced percentage of patients receiving blood products as well as quantity of products transfused. Timely results allowedclinicians to treat coagulopathy,with only those products required to resolve haemostatic dysfunction. Key to this success is a dedicated project lead and a multidisciplinary, multimodal approach involving all stakeholders. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aucc.2013.10.020 Measurement of temperature in critically ill adults: A systematic review and clinical practice guideline K. Rolls1,∗, K. Armstrong2, L. Keating3, D. Wrightson4, S. Walker5, J. Masters1 1 ACI-ICCMU, Australia 2 Bankstown ICU, Australia 3 St George ICU, Australia 4 Wollongong ICU, Australia 5 Central Queensland University, Australia Accurate measurement of temperature is important to ensure patients receive appropriate and timely interventions to prevent significantmorbidity andmortality. The clinical questionunderpinning this studywas ‘whatmethod/sofmeasuringbody temperature ensures the timely identification of abnormal temperatures in critically ill adults?’ An expert nursing group undertook a systematic review to identify research published between January 2000 and May 2012, published in English and applicable to critically ill patients aged more than 13. Recommendations for practice were developed at a consensus meeting and refined using internal and external validation panels. Online surveyswere usedwhere panellists indicated their level of agreementusinga9-point Likert scale. Agreementwas set as a median of equal or greater than seven. National Health and Medical Research Council guideline processes and evidence taxonomy were applied. Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network quality criteria were used. Thirty-one paperswere reviewedwith 24, including 17 Level III2 studies, four systematic reviews and three guidelines, included in thefinal review. Themost commonproblemswere failure to ensure adequate inter-rater reliability and sample size, and application of Bland–Altman analysis.
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