Hypotension was the most common trigger for medical emergency team (MET) calls after non-cardiac surgery, accounting for 41.4% of activations, followed by tachycardia (18.5%).
Cohort (n=23,258)
No
Hypotension and tachycardia are the most frequent triggers for medical emergency team activation following non-cardiac surgery, typically occurring within 24 hours of PACU discharge.
Deterioration after major surgery is common, with many patients experiencing a medical emergency team (MET) activation. Understanding the triggers for MET calls may help design interventions to prevent deterioration. We aimed to identify triggers for MET activation in non-cardiac surgical patients. A retrospective cohort study of adult patients who experienced a postoperative MET call at a single tertiary hospital was undertaken. The trigger and timing of each MET call and patient characteristics were collected.Four hundred and one MET calls occurred after 23,258 surgical procedures, a rate of 1.7% of all non-cardiac surgical procedures, accounting for 11.7% of all MET calls over the study period. Hypotension (41.4%) was the most common trigger, followed by tachycardia (18.5%), altered conscious state (11.0%), hypoxia (10.0%), tachypnoea (5.7%), 'other' (5.7%), clinical concern (4.0%), increased work of breathing (1.5%) and bradypnoea (0.7%). Cardiac and/or respiratory arrest triggered 1.2% of MET activations. Eighty-six percent of patients had a single MET call, 10.2% had two, 1.8% had three and one patient (0.3%) had four. The median interval between post-anaesthetic care unit (PACU) discharge and MET call was 14.7 h (95% confidence interval 4.2 to 28.9 h). MET calls resulted in intensive care unit (ICU) admission in 40 patients (10%), while 82% remained on the ward, 4% had a MET call shortly after ICU discharge and returned there, 2% returned to theatre, and 2% went to a high dependency unit.Hypotension was the most common trigger for MET calls after non-cardiac surgery. Deterioration frequently occurred within 24 h of PACU discharge. Future research should focus on prevention of hypotension and tachycardia after surgery.
Douglas et al. (Wed,) conducted a cohort in Postoperative deterioration after non-cardiac surgery (n=23,258). Non-cardiac surgery was evaluated on Triggers for medical emergency team (MET) activation. Hypotension was the most common trigger for medical emergency team (MET) calls after non-cardiac surgery, accounting for 41.4% of activations, followed by tachycardia (18.5%).