BACKGROUND Assessment of a patient's readiness for removal of the endotracheal tube in the ICU is based on respiratory, airway, and neurological measures. However, nearly 20% of patients require reintubation. We created a prediction model for the need for reintubation, which incorporates variables importantly contributing to extubation failure. METHODS This was a cohort study of 2,007 endotra...

BACKGROUND Cardiac surgery is frequently associated with prolonged endotracheal intubation. Because oral feeding is an important component of patient recovery after high-risk surgery, we sought to examine the contribution of dysphagia in the recuperation process after prolonged endotracheal intubation. METHODS All 254 adult patients who survived cardiac surgery between 2001 and 2004 at the To...

BACKGROUND Extubation failure can result from poor respiratory drive, impaired respiratory muscle function, or excessive inspiratory load. Measurement of airway pressure changes either during tidal breathing or after end-expiratory occlusion allows assessment of respiratory drive and muscle function. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the results of airway pressure measurements characterized chil...

Submental endotracheal intubation is a simple and secure alternative to either nasoendotracheal intubation or a tracheostomy in the airway management of maxillofacial trauma. However, a submental endotracheal intubation is quite difficult to manage if adverse events such as a tube obstruction, accidental extubation, or a leaking cuff with the endotracheal tube in the submental route occur, whic...

OBJECTIVE To develop additional criteria to predict for successful extubation of very-low-birth-weight infants recovering from respiratory distress syndrome. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Neonatal intensive care unit at a university teaching hospital. INTERVENTIONS Infants ready for extubation according to clinical, ventilatory and blood gas criteria were studied. Before extubation, t...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Unplanned extubation can be a significant event that places the patient at risk for adverse events. Our goal was to reduce unplanned extubations to,1 unplanned extubation per 100 patient-intubated days. METHODS: All unplanned extubations in the NICU beginning in October 2009 were audited. Data collected included time of day, patient weight, and patient care activity a...

objectives the current study aimed to compare the two methods based on the perceptions of the nurses working in neonatal intensive care units (nicu). patients and methods a comparative-descriptive study carried out on 35 nicu nurses in taleghani and al-zahra teaching hospitals in tabriz, iran, in 2013. data were collected by self-administered questionnaire (13 items). data analysis, including t...

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and safety of Nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) and Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) in neonates. METHODS Standard search strategy for the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group was performed. The participants were both preterm and term infants suffering from neonatal respiratory distress syndrome or experiencing apnea of prema...