Time definition of reintubation most relevant to patient outcomes in critically ill patients: a multicenter cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Reintubation is a common complication in critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Although reintubation has been demonstrated to be associated with patient outcomes, its time definition varies widely among guidelines and in the literature. This study aimed to determine the association between reintubation and patient outcomes as well as the consequences of the time elapsed between extubation and reintubation on patient outcomes. METHODS: This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of critically ill patients conducted between April 2015 and March 2021. Adult patients who underwent mechanical ventilation and extubation in intensive care units (ICUs) were investigated utilizing the Japanese Intensive Care PAtient Database. The primary and secondary outcomes were in-hospital and ICU mortality. The association between reintubation and clinical outcomes was studied using Cox proportional hazards analysis. Among the patients who underwent reintubation, a Cox proportional hazard analysis was conducted to evaluate patient outcomes according to the number of days from extubation to reintubation. RESULTS: Overall, 184,705 patients in 75 ICUs were screened, and 1849 patients underwent reintubation among 48,082 extubated patients. After adjustment for potential confounders, multivariable analysis revealed a significant association between reintubation and increased in-hospital and ICU mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.520, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.359-1.700, and adjusted HR 1.325, 95% CI 1.076-1.633, respectively). Among the reintubated patients, 1037 (56.1%) were reintubated within 24 h after extubation, 418 (22.6%) at 24-48 h, 198 (10.7%) at 48-72 h, 111 (6.0%) at 72-96 h, and 85 (4.6%) at 96-120 h. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that in-hospital and ICU mortality was highest in patients reintubated at 72-96 h (adjusted HR 1.528, 95% CI 1.062-2.197, and adjusted HR 1.334, 95% CI 0.756-2.352, respectively; referenced to reintubation within 24 h). CONCLUSIONS: Reintubation was associated with a significant increase in in-hospital and ICU mortality. The highest mortality rates were observed in patients who were reintubated between 72 and 96 h after extubation. Further studies are warranted for the optimal observation of extubated patients in clinical practice and to strengthen the evidence for mechanical ventilation.

Factors Associated With Prolonged Ventilation in Patients Receiving Prone Positioning Protocol With Muscle Relaxants for Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Prone positioning and neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) are frequently used to treat severe respiratory failure from COVID-19 pneumonia. Prone positioning has shown to improve mortality, whereas NMBAs are used to prevent ventilator asynchrony and reduce patient self-inflicted lung injury. However, despite the use of lung-protective strategies, high death rates in this patient population have been reported. METHODS: We retrospectively examined the factors affecting prolonged mechanical ventilation in subjects receiving prone positioning plus muscle relaxants. The medical records of 170 patients were reviewed. Subjects were divided into 2 groups according to ventilator-free days (VFDs) at day 28. Whereas subjects with VFDs < 18 d were defined as prolonged mechanical ventilation, subjects with VFDs ≥18 d were defined as short-term mechanical ventilation. Subjects' baseline status, status at ICU admission, therapy before ICU admission, and treatment in the ICU were studied. RESULTS: Under the proning protocol for COVID-19, the mortality rate in our facility was 11.2%. The prognosis may be improved by avoiding lung injury in the early stages of mechanical ventilation. According to multifactorial logistic regression analysis, persistent SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding in blood (P = .03), higher daily corticosteroid use before ICU admission (P = .007), delayed recovery of lymphocyte count (P < .001), and higher maximal fibrinogen degradation products (P = .039) were associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation. A significant relationship was found between daily corticosteroid use before admission and VFDs by squared regression analysis (y = -0.00008522x2 + 0.01338x + 12.8; x: daily corticosteroids dosage before admission [prednisolone mg/d]; y: VFDs/28 d, R2 = 0.047, P = .02). The peak point of the regression curve was 13.4 d at 78.5 mg/d of the equivalent prednisolone dose, which corresponded to the longest VFDs. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent SARS-CoV-2 viral shedding in blood, high corticosteroid dose from the onset of symptoms to ICU admission, slow recovery of lymphocyte counts, and high levels of fibrinogen degradation products after admission were associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation in subjects with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

Personalized ventilatory strategy based on lung recruitablity in COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome: a prospective clinical study.

BACKGROUND: Heterogeneity is an inherent nature of ARDS. Recruitment-to-inflation ratio has been developed to identify the patients who has lung recruitablity. This technique might be useful to identify the patients that match specific interventions, such as higher positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) or prone position or both. We aimed to evaluate the physiological effects of PEEP and body position on lung mechanics and regional lung inflation in COVID-19-associated ARDS and to propose the optimal ventilatory strategy based on recruitment-to-inflation ratio. METHODS: Patients with COVID-19-associated ARDS were consecutively enrolled. Lung recruitablity (recruitment-to-inflation ratio) and regional lung inflation (electrical impedance tomography [EIT]) were measured with a combination of body position (supine or prone) and PEEP (low 5 cmH2O or high 15 cmH2O). The utility of recruitment-to-inflation ratio to predict responses to PEEP were examined with EIT. RESULTS: Forty-three patients were included. Recruitment-to-inflation ratio was 0.68 (IQR 0.52-0.84), separating high recruiter versus low recruiter. Oxygenation was the same between two groups. In high recruiter, a combination of high PEEP with prone position achieved the highest oxygenation and less dependent silent spaces in EIT (vs. low PEEP in both positions) without increasing non-dependent silent spaces in EIT. In low recruiter, low PEEP in prone position resulted in better oxygenation (vs. both PEEPs in supine position), less dependent silent spaces (vs. low PEEP in supine position) and less non-dependent silent spaces (vs. high PEEP in both positions). Recruitment-to-inflation ratio was positively correlated with the improvement in oxygenation and respiratory system compliance, the decrease in dependent silent spaces, and was inversely correlated with the increase in non-dependent silent spaces, when applying high PEEP. CONCLUSIONS: Recruitment-to-inflation ratio may be useful to personalize PEEP in COVID-19-associated ARDS. Higher PEEP in prone position and lower PEEP in prone position decreased the amount of dependent silent spaces (suggesting lung collapse) without increasing the amount of non-dependent silent spaces (suggesting overinflation) in high recruiter and in low recruiter, respectively.

Control of blood glucose levels by an artificial pancreas in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Many patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia experience hyperglycemia. It is often difficult to control blood glucose (BG) levels in such patients using standard intravenous insulin infusion therapy. Therefore, we used an artificial pancreas. This study aimed to compare the BG status of the artificial pancreas with that of standard therapy. METHODS: Fifteen patients were included in the study. BG values and the infusion speed of insulin and glucose by the artificial pancreas were collected. Arterial BG and administration rates of insulin, parenteral sugar, and enteral sugar were recorded during the artificial pancreas and standard therapy. The target BG level was 200 mg/dl. RESULTS: Arterial BG was highly correlated with BG data from the artificial pancreas. A higher BG slightly increased the difference between the BG data from the artificial pancreas and arterial BS. No significant difference in arterial BG was observed between the artificial pancreas and standard therapy. However, the standard deviation with the artificial pancreas was smaller than that under standard therapy (p < 0.0001). More points within the target BG range were achieved with the artificial pancreas (180-220 mg/dl) than under standard therapy. The hyperglycemic index of the artificial pancreas (8.7 ± 15.6 mg/dl) was lower than that of standard therapy (16.0 ± 21.5 mg/dl) (p = 0.0387). No incidence of hypoglycemia occurred under the artificial pancreas. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of achieving target BG was higher using artificial pancreas than with standard therapy. An artificial pancreas helps to control BG in critically ill patients.

Timing of tracheostomy and patient outcomes in critically ill patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a single-center retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an integral method of life support in critically ill patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure; however, such patients generally require prolonged mechanical ventilation and exhibit high mortality rates. Tracheostomy is commonly performed in patients on mechanical ventilation, and its early implementation has potential advantages for favorable patient outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the association between tracheostomy timing and patient outcomes, including mortality, in patients requiring ECMO. METHODS: We conducted a single-center retrospective observational study of consecutively admitted patients who were supported by ECMO and underwent tracheostomy during intensive care unit (ICU) admission at a tertiary care center from April 2014 until December 2021. The primary outcome was hospital mortality. Using the quartiles of tracheostomy timing, the patients were classified into four groups for comparison. The association between the quartiles of tracheostomy timing and mortality was explored using multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS: Of the 293 patients treated with ECMO, 98 eligible patients were divided into quartiles 1 (≤ 15 days), quartile 2:16-19 days, quartile 3:20-26 days, and 4 (> 26 days). All patients underwent surgical tracheostomy and 35 patients underwent tracheostomy during ECMO. The complications of tracheostomy were comparable between the groups, whereas the duration of ECMO and ICU length of stay increased significantly as the quartiles of tracheostomy timing increased. Patients in quartile 1 had the lowest hospital mortality rate (19.2%), whereas those in quartile 4 had the highest mortality rate (50.0%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between the increment of the quartiles of tracheostomy timing and hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio for quartile increment:1.55, 95% confidence interval 1.03-2.35, p for trend = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: The timing of tracheostomy in patients requiring ECMO was significantly associated with patient outcomes in a time-dependent manner. Further investigation is warranted to determine the optimal timing of tracheostomy in terms of mortality.