Direct-to-OR Transfer of Patients with Leaking Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm with leak (AAAL) usually require immediate operative intervention. Researchers retrospectively analyzed system performance and outcomes in patients with AAAL who were transported per protocol by nurse-paramedic Med Flight teams directly to operating rooms (ORs) at four academic centers during a 6-year period. For each patient, the receiving facility either was assigned by the transport agency according to a rotating schedule (“roster” patients) or was arranged by the transferring physician before calling for transport (“non-roster” patients). One patient was transferred from an intensive care unit and the others from emergency departments.

Of 29 consecutive patients (median age 75; range, 59–94) who we…