Insertion time of the pulmonary artery catheter in critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVES

Measurement of the time elapsed from the decision to use a pulmonary artery catheter to the onset of the adapted treatment.

DESIGN

Prospective study.

SETTING

Critical care unit of a university hospital.

PATIENTS

A total of 104 critically ill patients.

INTERVENTIONS

The time elapsed from the decision to use a pulmonary artery catheter to the onset of the adapted treatment. Five time intervals (availability, preparation, catheterization, data collection, and therapeutic intervals) were individualized according to the times of decision of pulmonary artery catheter insertion, operator's hand washing, venipuncture, postoperative dressing, data collection, and the effective onset of subsequent therapy.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Among 120 used pulmonary artery catheters, seven could not be inserted. The time to use the pulmonary artery catheter was never shorter than 45 mins (median value = 120 mins). For availability, preparation, catheterization, data collection, and therapeutic intervals, the median values were 30, 20, 20, 20, and 10 mins, respectively. The availability and data collection intervals were shortened during the night period and the fourth quarter of the study, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The pulmonary artery catheter use is time consuming. However, the availability and data collection intervals could be shortened.