Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) has a high demand for acute and critical care services, with over a million life-saving treatments administered annually. This study focuses on improving decision-making regarding the use of arterial catheter – an invasive method in which a thin hollow tube is placed into an artery (blood vessel) to measure blood pressure in acute and critical care services.

Arterial catheter is highly used in the demanding landscape of acute and critical care at RBWH, where a substantial number of life-saving treatments are performed annually. This encompasses ~30,000 surgeries in the operating theatre (OT), 2,500 admissions to intensive care (ICU), and 400,000 emergency department (ED) presentations.

The vast majority (90%) of critically ill patients (in OT, ICU and ED) frequently require specific catheters inserted into arteries for continuous cardiac monitoring (e.g. blood pressure) and blood sampling. Unfortunately, these devices are associated with risks such as localised clotting, infection, and anaemia.

Using an innovative and systematic method to guide evidence review and collaboration with clinicians and consumers, the team will establish clear criteria for appropriate arterial catheter use versus non-invasive monitoring.

The project, led by Professor Samantha Keogh, aims to minimise catheter-related harm by enhancing clinicians’ decision-making through collaboration with clinicians and consumers. This has the potential to reduce patient exposure to invasive procedures, mitigating associated risks like clotting and infection while maintaining high-quality care. The ultimate result is an improvement in the safety and efficiency of critical care services.