Research leads to guidelines on the transferring of patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
News release from NETSCC, HTA
18 July 2012
Research conducted as part of a project funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme examining emergency endovascular aneurysm repair, has published in the Emergency Medicine Journal.
The research found general agreement around the type of patients that should be considered for transfer from general hospitals to more specialist care centres. These characteristics included being below 85 years of age, with moderate or minimal systemic disease and needing no or limited help with daily living. However, the research team also discovered disagreement how patients should be managed before and during the transfer.
In order to explore areas of consensus and disagreement around the transfer of patients, researchers led by Professor Janet Powell of Imperial College London, used a three-round Delphi questionnaire approach.
The results of the questionnaire, which was generated through discussion among experts from a wide-variety of fields, found agreement that speed was a critically important factor. The message throughout the responses was ‘do not delay’ when making decisions about either diagnostic tests or whether to initiate a transfer.
Following on this research and to improve the equity of patient access to specialist care in the UK, best practice guidelines have been developed. These guidelines, for the assessment and transfer of patients with a clinical diagnosis of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, have been endorsed by Royal College of Radiologists.
View the full paper on the EMJ website, Emerg Med J doi:10.1136, or visit the project page for more information on the IMPROVE project, which aims to determine whether endovascular aneurysm repair (eEVAR) can improve the survival from ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Notes for editors
1. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) Programme funds research about the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. It is the largest NIHR programme and publishes the results of its research in the Health Technology Assessment journal, with over 600 issues published to date. The journal’s 2011 Impact Factor (4.255) ranked it in the top 10% of medical and health-related journals. All issues are available for download, free of charge, from the website. The HTA Programme is funded by the NIHR, with contributions from the CSO in Scotland, NISCHR in Wales, and the HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland. www.hta.ac.uk.
2. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government’s strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. For further information, visit the NIHR website (www.nihr.ac.uk).
Contact details
Paul Davey, Programme Manager (Communications)
Telephone: 02380 595 4309, Email: P.A.Davey@southampton.ac.uk
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