Purpose To describe adverse events occurring during intrahospital transportation of adult patients hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and to evaluate the association with morbidity and mortality. Method Prospective cohort study from July 2014 to July 2015. Data collection comprised clinical data, prognostic scores, length of stay, and outcome at hospital discharge. Data was collected on transport and adverse events. Adverse events were classified according to the World Health Organization following the degree of damage. The level of significance was set at 5%. Results A total of 293 patients were analyzed with follow-up of 143 patient transportations and records of 86 adverse events. Of these events, 44.1% were related to physiological alterations, 23.5% due to equipment failure, 19.7% due to team failure, and 12.7% due to delays. Half of the events were classified as moderate. The mean time of hospital stay of the group with adverse events was higher compared to patients without adverse events (31.4 versus 16.6 days, resp., p < 0.001). Conclusions Physiological alterations were the most frequently encountered events, followed by equipment and team failures. The degree of damage associated with adverse events was classified as moderate and associated with an increase in the length of hospital stay.

Purpose To analyze whether a viscoelastic mattress support surface can reduce the incidence of stage 2 pressure injuries compared to a standard hospital mattress with pyramidal overlay in critically ill patients. Method A randomized clinical trial with intention-to-treat analysis was carried out recruiting patients with Braden scale ≤14 on intensive care unit admission from April 2016 to April 2017. Patients were allocated into two groups: intervention group (viscoelastic mattress) and control group (standard mattress with pyramidal overlay). The level of significance adopted was 5%. Results A total of 62 patients were included in the study. There was a predominance of males (53%) and the mean age was 67.9 (SD 18.8) years. There were no differences in clinical or severity characteristics between the patients in the control group and the intervention group. Pressure injuries occurred in 35 patients, with a median time of 7 days (ITQ 4–10) from admission. The frequency of pressure injuries was higher in the control group (80.6%) compared to the intervention group (32.2%; p < 0.001). Conclusions Viscoelastic support surfaces reduced the incidence of pressure injuries in moderate or higher risk critically ill patients when compared to pyramidal support surfaces.