Introduction Patients under mechanical ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) require sedation in order to facilitate ventilator and endotracheal tube tolerance. The sedative agent that must be used should not interfere with early extubation of patients. Midazolam is a benzodiazepine, a common sedative agent used in the ICU, while dexmetomidine is an alpha 2 adrenergic receptor agonist, t...

Methods The study was performed over patients intubated for at least 1 day in our ICU. Once the patient was extubated, tube was immediately stored in a plastic bag at room temperature and kept in a safe place until bench assessment. This was performed maximal 24 hours after extubation as follows. The endotracheal tube was attached to a filter (Hygrobac) and both were set to ASL 5000 active serv...

An African-American man, aged 34 years, underwent an elective uncomplicated right wrist laceration repair while under general anesthesia. Following extubation, the patient developed hypoxemia, tachypnea, shortness of breath, pulmonary rales, frothy sputum, decreased oxygen saturation, and evidence of upper airway obstruction. Chest radiograph showed pulmonary edema. The patient was diagnosed wi...

BACKGROUND The pediatric literature addressing extubation readiness parameters and strategies to wean from mechanical ventilation is limited. METHODS We designed a survey to assess the use of extubation readiness parameters among pediatric critical care physicians at academic centers in the United States. RESULTS The overall response rate was 44.1% (417/945). The majority of respondents che...

PURPOSE The study was done to compare effects of two endotracheal tube (ET tube) fixation methods (rotated fixation versus conventional) on unplanned extubation and skin integrity for orally intubated patients in intensive care units. METHODS The research design was a non-equivalent control group with repeated measures design. Participants were 80 patients; 40 participants assigned to each gr...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate effects of medetomidine on anesthetic dose requirements, cardiorespiratory variables, plasma cortisol concentrations, and behavioral pain scores in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy. DESIGN Randomized, prospective study. ANIMALS 12 healthy Walker-type hound dogs. PROCEDURE Dogs received medetomidine (40 micrograms/kg [18.2 micrograms/lb] of body weight, i.m.; n = 6)...

We would like to congratulate Gentile and Siobal on their review article concerning the recent advances in equipment for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia,1 in which they reported different techniques to clear the subglottic secretions that accumulate during intubation. At the time of extubation, they described applying a positive pressure gradient just prior to cuff deflation. T...

Endotracheal tube insertion and mechanical ventilation are indicated in spinal cord injury patients; however, dysphagia can occur after extubation. The resultant complications of may increase the length hospital stay mortality. Therefore, should be evaluated This case report introduces a rare finding pharyngeal perforation during fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation swallowing (FEES) patients with ...

OBJECTIVE In clinical intensive care practice, weaning from mechanical ventilation is accompanied by concurrent early patient mobilization. The aim of this study was to compare the success of extubation performed with patients seated in an armchair compared to extubation with patients in a supine position. METHODS A retrospective study, observational and non-randomized was conducted in a mixe...