Early versus late tracheostomy for traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Tracheostomy is the most frequent bedside surgical procedure performed on patients with traumatic brain injury who require mechanical ventilation. To compare the effects of early tracheostomy vs. late tracheostomy on the duration of mechanical ventilation in patients with traumatic brain injury, we carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane were searched from inception to 17th October 2022. Eligible clinical trials and observational studies reporting early versus late tracheostomy in TBI were searched. Two reviewers extracted data and independently assessed the risk of bias. The duration of mechanical ventilation was the primary outcome. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: We pooled standardized mean differences and risk differences for random effects model. A total of 368 studies were retrieved and screened. Nineteen studies were selected, including 6253 patients. Mean time for early tracheostomy and late tracheostomy procedures was 6±2.9 days and 17±10.7 days, respectively. Early tracheostomy was associated with shorter mechanical ventilation duration (SMD=-1.79, 95% CI -2.71; -0.88) and fewer ventilator associated pneumonia (RD=-0.11, 95% CI -0.16; -0.06) when compared with late tracheostomy. Moreover, intensive care unit (ICU) (SMD=-1.64, 95% CI -2.44; -0.84) and hospital (SMD=-1.26, 95% CI -1.97; -0.56) length of stay were shorter when compared with late tracheostomy. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this meta-analysis suggest that early tracheostomy in severe TBI patients contributes to a lower exposure to secondary insults and nosocomial adverse events, increasing the opportunity of patient's early rehabilitation and discharge.

Beneficial effects of levosimendan to wean patients from VA-ECMO: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with refractory cardiogenic shock can benefit from veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). The use of levosimendan in VA-ECMO patients may facilitate weaning and enhance survival. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane were searched from inception to October 10th, 2021. Eligible clinical trials and observational studies reporting the use of levosimendan in VA-ECMO were searched. Two reviewers extracted data and independently assessed the risk of bias. To integrate the data, a random-effect model was applied. The success of weaning from VA-ECMO was the primary outcome. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Ten observational studies, including a total of 987 patients, were identified. Levosimendan was associated with successful weaning (362/448) compared with controls (328/539) (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.71-3.28; P=0.01) and reduced mortality (144/433 vs. 258/507) (nine studies, OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.36-0.78; P=0.01) compared with control. CONCLUSIONS: Levosimendan was associated with successful weaning and increased survival in VA-ECMO patients. Randomized trials should confirm these findings.