[Which are the conditions for practicing interdisciplinary operative intensive care?]

The creation of a center for interdisciplinary operative intensive care through the fusion of several smaller intensive care units from various specialties is mainly driven by economic reasons. To specify some conditions for making such a fusion less expensive and to identify the impact of larger intensive care units on the quality of patients' treatment and on surgical training are the subjects of this study.

Based on a review of the literature and on our own experience in this field, the influence of the size of the unit should be analysed not just regarding the economic aspects but also concerning the medical and surgical training issues.

The economic advantages of scale of a larger unit are limited because of management problems when reaching a number of more than ten to twelve patients. This number probably leads to an optimal quality in medical care - especially if the patients are treated by specialists. The claim for a specific surgical training is thereby conceeded. The economical and medical advantages by connecting subunits to a larger operative intensive care unit will be achieved by economies of scale. For coordinating and running such a large unit an experienced intensive care doctor should be appointed.

The concept of an interdisciplinary surgical ICU is obviously most practicable and reasonable if subunits with approximately twelve beds are concentrated in one centre for operative intensive care. This offers an advantage concerning the organisation and for the philosophy of treating special diseases by specialised medical teams. The size maintains the advantage of economies of scale as well the economies of scope and also promises effective logistics. For the management, an experienced intensive care specialist, either an anaesthesiologist or a surgeon should be assigned. All subject-specific advanced skills in intensive care have to be covered by an interdisciplinary continuing education.