Reason for admission of admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) from emergency departments (EDs)
| Direct admissions to ICU from EDs(n = 9389) | Indirect admissions to ICU from EDs(n = 2879) | Non-ED ICU admissions(n = 34 319) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient category | n | % | Patient category | n | % | Patient category | n | % |
| Poison (accidental and non-accidental) | 1261 | 13.4 | Respiratory—pneumonia and respiratory tract infections | 497 | 17.3 | Surgery (non-trauma)—gastrointestinal tract | 5075 | 14.8 |
| Trauma—head and face | 1163 | 12.4 | Cardiac—circulatory collapse/shock | 438 | 15.2 | Surgery (non-trauma)—vascular | 4343 | 12.7 |
| Cardiac—ischaemic heart disease | 799 | 8.5 | Respiratory—asthma and chronic lung disease | 281 | 9.8 | Cardiac—circulatory collapse/shock | 3486 | 10.2 |
| Cardiac—circulatory collapse/shock | 703 | 7.5 | Poison (accidental and non-accidental) | 149 | 5.2 | Respiratory—pneumonia and respiratory tract infections | 2293 | 6.7 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—neurosurgery | 582 | 6.2 | Surgery (non-trauma)—hepatobiliary and pancreas | 134 | 4.7 | Surgery (non-trauma)—chest | 1680 | 4.9 |
| Respiratory—asthma and chronic lung disease | 547 | 5.8 | Cardiac—ischaemic heart disease | 131 | 4.6 | Cardiac—ischaemic heart disease | 1292 | 3.8 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—vascular | 502 | 5.4 | Surgery (non-trauma)—GI tract | 130 | 4.5 | Surgery (non-trauma)—hepatobiliary and pancreas | 1239 | 3.6 |
| Trauma—orthopaedic and spinal | 430 | 4.6 | Cardiac—arrhythmia | 119 | 4.1 | Respiratory—asthma and chronic lung disease | 1130 | 3.3 |
| Trauma—chest | 410 | 4.4 | Trauma—chest | 95 | 3.3 | Respiratory—airway problems | 1101 | 3.2 |
| Cardiac—arrhythmia | 409 | 4.4 | CNS—fits | 89 | 3.1 | Anaesthetic reasons and complications | 1045 | 3.0 |
| Trauma—abdomen | 352 | 3.8 | Medical—renal failure | 82 | 2.9 | Surgery (non-trauma)—renal or urogenital | 1004 | 2.9 |
| Respiratory—pneumonia and respiratory tract infections | 335 | 3.6 | Surgery (non-trauma)—neurosurgery | 75 | 2.6 | Surgery (non-trauma)—neurosurgery | 864 | 2.5 |
| CNS—fits | 290 | 3.1 | Medical—biochemical/endocrine/metabolic derangement | 61 | 2.1 | Cardiac—arrhythmia | 862 | 2.2 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—gastrointestinal tract | 285 | 3.0 | Respiratory—other | 58 | 2.0 | Respiratory—other | 859 | 2.5 |
| CNS—coma, other cause | 253 | 2.7 | CNS—infection | 54 | 1.9 | Trauma—head and face | 776 | 2.3 |
| CNS—infection | 148 | 1.6 | Respiratory—aspiration/inhalation injury | 53 | 1.8 | Surgery (non-trauma)—orthopaedic/spinal/rheumatology | 625 | 1.8 |
| Respiratory—airway problems | 147 | 1.6 | Medical—other conditions | 48 | 1.7 | Medical—renal failure | 589 | 1.7 |
| Medical—biochemical/endocrine/metabolic derangement | 139 | 1.5 | Trauma—head and face | 48 | 1.7 | Surgery (non-trauma)—other abdominal | 574 | 1.7 |
| Respiratory—aspiration/inhalation injury | 137 | 1.5 | CNS—coma, other cause | 43 | 1.5 | Cardiac—other | 511 | 1.5 |
| Respiratory—other | 67 | 0.7 | Surgery (non-trauma)—chest | 42 | 1.5 | Medical—other conditions | 445 | 1.3 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—chest | 61 | 0.7 | Cardiac—other | 40 | 1.4 | Trauma—orthopaedic and spinal | 437 | 1.3 |
| Trauma—burn and dermal injury | 38 | 0.4 | Respiratory—acute respiratory distress syndrome | 26 | 0.9 | Poison (accidental and non-accidental) | 416 | 1.2 |
| Medical—other conditions | 37 | 0.4 | Trauma—orthopaedic and spinal | 24 | 0.8 | Respiratory—aspiration/inhalation injury | 416 | 1.2 |
| Cardiac—other | 35 | 0.4 | Respiratory—airway problems | 23 | 0.8 | Trauma—abdomen | 413 | 1.2 |
| Hypothermia and hyperthermia (accidental) | 34 | 0.4 | Medical—neuromuscular disorder | 22 | 0.8 | Surgery (non-trauma)—obstetrics and gynaecology | 350 | 1.0 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—hepatobiliary and pancreas | 34 | 0.4 | Surgery (non-trauma)—vascular | 21 | 0.7 | Medical—biochemical/endocrine/metabolic derangement | 327 | 1.0 |
| Medical—renal failure | 32 | 0.3 | Surgery (non-trauma)—renal or urogenital | 18 | 0.6 | CNS—fits | 308 | 0.9 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—other abdominal | 30 | 0.3 | Surgery (non-trauma)—other abdominal | 17 | 0.6 | Trauma—chest | 295 | 0.9 |
| Anaesthetic reasons and complications | 25 | 0.3 | Trauma—abdomen | 10 | 0.4 | Respiratory—acute respiratory distress syndrome | 278 | 0.8 |
| Uncoded | 18 | 0.2 | Unclassifiable | 9 | 0.3 | CNS—infection | 274 | 0.8 |
| Respiratory—acute respiratory distress syndrome | 15 | 0.2 | Uncoded | 9 | 0.3 | Surgery (non-trauma)—maxillofacial/ENT/ophthalmology | 270 | 0.8 |
| Medical—neuromuscular disorder | 14 | 0.2 | Anaesthetic reasons and complications | 8 | 0.3 | CNS—coma, other cause | 250 | 0.7 |
| Surgery (non-trauma) orthopaedic/spinal/rheumatology | 14 | 0.2 | Hypothermia and hyperthermia (accidental) | 7 | 0.2 | Medical—neuromuscular disorder | 214 | 0.6 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—renal or urogenital | 12 | 0.1 | Surgery (non-trauma)—maxillofacial/ENT/ophthalmology | 6 | 0.2 | Unclassifiable | 96 | 0.3 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—maxillofacial/ENT/ophthalmology | 10 | 0.1 | Surgery (non-trauma)—orthopaedic/spinal/rheumatology | 6 | 0.2 | Uncoded | 80 | 0.2 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—obstetrics and gynaecology | 10 | 0.1 | CNS—other | 3 | 0.1 | Trauma—burn and dermal injury | 58 | 0.2 |
| Unclassifiable | 5 | 0.1 | Surgery (non-trauma)—obstetrics and gynaecology | 2 | 0.1 | Surgery (non-trauma)—other | 23 | 0.1 |
| CNS—other | 4 | 0.0 | Trauma—burn and dermal injury | 1 | 0.0 | Hypothermia and hyperthermia (accidental) | 10 | 0.0 |
| Medical—psychiatric/other confusional state | 1 | 0.0 | Medical—psychiatric/other confusional state | 0 | 0.0 | CNS—other | 9 | 0.0 |
| Surgery (non-trauma)—other | 1 | 0.0 | Surgery (non-trauma)—other | 0 | 0.0 | Medical—psychiatric/other confusional state | 2 | 0.0 |