Transfer from ophthalmology to another service is a marker of high risk medical events.

Of 3632 consecutive admissions to the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute between July 1, 1987 and June 30, 1989, 27 patients required transfer to a medical or surgical service (0.74%). The major reasons for transfer included acute or decompensated cardiac disease (26%), poorly controlled diabetes mellitus (19%), acute renal failure (11%), coagulopathy, stroke, and hypertension (7% each). Only one transfer was a direct result of an anesthesia complication. The highest rates of transfers were associated with orbital (4.3%), enucleation/evisceration (3.1%), and glaucoma (2.3%) surgeries, while vitreoretinal surgery had the lowest rate of transfer (0.3%). Most of the transfers of patients with orbital disease were for management of related problems such as sinusitis or increased intracranial pressure.