Project description:The aims of this study were to investigate the outcomes of patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) and to identify risk factors associated with its mortality rate. All patients admitted to the respiratory care centre (RCC) who required PMV (the use of MV ≥21 days) between January 2006 and December 2014 were enrolled. A total of 1,821 patients were identified; their mean age was 69.8 ± 14.2 years, and 521 patients (28.6%) were aged >80 years. Upon RCC admission, the APACHE II scores were 16.5 ± 6.3, and 1,311 (72.0%) patients had at least one comorbidity. Pulmonary infection was the most common diagnosis (n = 770, 42.3%). A total of 320 patients died during hospitalization, and the in-hospital mortality rate was 17.6%. A multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis indicated that patients were more likely to die if they who were >80 years of age, had lower albumin levels (<2 g/dl) and higher APACHE II scores (≥15), required haemodialysis, or had a comorbidity. In conclusion, the in-hospital mortality for patients requiring PMV in our study was 17%, and mortality was associated with disease severity, hypoalbuminaemia, haemodialysis, and an older age.
Project description:Studies about prognostic assessment in cancer patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) for post-intensive care are scarce. We retrospectively enrolled 112 cancer patients requiring PMV support who were admitted to the respiratory care center (RCC), a specialized post-intensive care weaning facility, from November 2009 through September 2013. The weaning success rate was 44.6%, and mortality rates at hospital discharge and after 1 year were 43.8% and 76.9%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression showed that weaning failure, in addition to underlying cancer status, was significantly associated with an increased 1-year mortality (odds ratio, 6.269; 95% confidence interval, 1.800-21.834; P?=?0.004). Patients who had controlled non-hematologic cancers and successful weaning had the longest median survival, while those with other cancers who failed weaning had the worst. Patients with low maximal inspiratory pressure, anemia, and poor oxygenation at RCC admission had an increased risk of weaning failure. In conclusion, cancer status and weaning outcome were the most important determinants associated with long-term mortality in cancer patients requiring PMV. We suggest palliative care for those patients with clinical features associated with worse outcomes. It is unknown whether survival in this specific patient population could be improved by modifying the risk of weaning failure.
Project description:Rationale: Patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation experience low survival rates and incur high healthcare costs. However, little is known about how to optimally organize and manage their care.Objectives: To identify a set of effective care practices for patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation.Methods: We performed a focused ethnographic evaluation at eight long-term acute care hospitals in the United States ranking in either the lowest or highest quartile of risk-adjusted mortality in at least four of the five years between 2007 and 2011.Measurements and Main Results: We conducted 329 hours of direct observation, 196 interviews, and 39 episodes of job shadowing. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis and a positive-negative deviance approach. We found that high- and low-performing hospitals differed substantially in their approach to care. High-performing hospitals actively promoted interdisciplinary communication and coordination using a range of organizational practices, including factors related to leadership (e.g., leaders who communicate a culture of quality improvement), staffing (e.g., lower nurse-to-patient ratios and ready availability of psychologists and spiritual care providers), care protocols (e.g., specific yet flexible respiratory therapy-driven weaning protocols), team meetings (e.g., interdisciplinary meetings that include direct care providers), and the physical plant (e.g., large workstations that allow groups to interact). These practices were believed to facilitate care that is simultaneously goal directed and responsive to individual patient needs, leading to more successful liberation from mechanical ventilation and improved survival.Conclusions: High-performing long-term acute care hospitals employ several organizational practices that may be helpful in improving care for patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation.
Project description:BackgroundProlonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) is increasingly common worldwide, consuming enormous healthcare resources. Factors that modify PMV outcome are still obscure.MethodsWe selected patients without preceding mechanical ventilation within the one past year and who developed PMV during index admission in Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) system during 1998-2007 for comparison of mortality and resource use. They were divided into three groups: (1) patients with end-stage renal diseases (ESRD) before the index admission for PMV onset; (2) patients with dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury (AKI-dialysis) during the hospitalization course; and (3) patients without AKI or with non dialysis-requiring AKI during the hospitalization course (non-AKI). We used a random-effects logistic regression model to identify factors associated with mortality.ResultsCompared with the other two groups, patients with AKI-dialysis had significantly longer mechanical ventilation, more frequent use of vasopressors, longer intensive care unit/hospital stay and higher inpatient expenditures during the index admission. Relative to non-AKI patients, patients with AKI-dialysis had an elevated mortality hazard; the adjusted relative risk ratios were 1.51 (95% confidence interval [CI]:1.46-1.56), 1.27 (95% CI: 1.23-1.32), and 1.10 (95% CI: 1.08-1.12) for mortality rates at discharge, 3 months, and 4 years after PMV, respectively. Patients with AKI-dialysis also consumed significantly higher total in-patient expenditure than the other two patient groups (p<0.001).ConclusionsAmong patients that need PMV care during an admission, the presence of de novo AKI requiring dialysis significantly increased short and long term mortality, and demand for health care resources.
Project description:Background: Comprehensive rehabilitation programs are recommended for patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) to facilitate functional recovery and ventilator weaning, but whether the functional status after rehabilitation influences outcome has not been clearly evaluated. This study aimed to investigate the association between post-rehabilitation functional status and weaning and survival outcome in PMV patients. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled PMV patients admitted to the respiratory care center (RCC), a post-ICU weaning facility with protocolized rehabilitation program, from January 2016 through December 2017. Functional status was measured by the de Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI), with a cut-off value set at 20 points. The primary outcomes were the weaning status at RCC discharge and hospital survival. The secondary outcomes were overall survival and survival at 3 months after RCC discharge. We followed patients until 3 months after RCC discharge or death. Logistic and Cox regressions were performed to identify significant parameters associated with weaning success and survival. Results: In total, 320 patients were enrolled. The weaning success rate was 71.6%. The survival rate at RCC discharge, hospital discharge, and 3 months after RCC discharge was 89.1, 77.5, and 66.6%, respectively. Post-rehabilitation DEMMI ≥ 20 (odds ratio [OR], 3.514; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.436-8.598; P = 0.006) was the most significantly associated with weaning success. The weaning success and higher post-rehabilitation DEMMI were the two most significant independent factors associated with both hospital survival (weaning success, OR, 12.272; 95% CI, 5.281-28.517; P < 0.001; post-rehabilitation DEMMI ≥ 20, OR, 6.298; 95% CI, 1.302-30.477; P = 0.022) and survival at 3 months after RCC discharge (weaning success, OR, 38.788; 95% CI, 11.505-130.762; P < 0.001; post-rehabilitation DEMMI ≥ 20, OR, 4.830; 95% CI, 1.072-21.756; P = 0.040). Post-rehabilitation DEMMI ≥ 20 remained significantly association with overall survival at 3 months after RCC discharge (hazard ratio, 0.237; 95% CI, 0.072-0.785; P = 0.018). Conclusions: Post-rehabilitation functional status of PMV patients was independently associated with weaning success, as well as hospital and 3-month overall survival after RCC discharge. Post-rehabilitation, but not pre-rehabilitation, functional status was a significant parameter associated with weaning success and survival in patients requiring PMV.
Project description:ObjectiveAneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide and imposes serious burdens on society and individuals. However, predicting the long-term outcomes in aSAH patients requiring mechanical ventilation remains challenging. We sought to establish a model utilizing the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO)-penalized Cox regression to estimate the prognosis of aSAH patients requiring mechanical ventilation, based on regularly utilized and easily accessible clinical variables.MethodsData were retrieved from the Dryad Digital Repository. Potentially relevant features were selected using LASSO regression analysis. Multiple Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed to develop a model using the training set. Receiver operating characteristics and calibration curves were used to assess its predictive accuracy and discriminative power. Kaplan-Meier and decision curve analyses (DCA) were used to evaluate the clinical utility of the model.ResultsIndependent prognostic factors, including the Simplified Acute Physiology Score 2, early brain injury, rebleeding, and length of intensive care unit stay, were identified and included in the nomogram. In the training set, the area under the curve values for 1-, 2-, and 4-year survival predictions were 0.82, 0.81, and 0.80, respectively. In the validation set, the nomogram exhibited excellent discrimination ability and good calibration. Moreover, DCA demonstrated that the nomogram was clinically beneficial. Finally, a web-based nomogram was constructed (https://rehablitation.shinyapps.io/aSAH).InterpretationOur model is a useful tool for accurately predicting long-term outcomes in patients with aSAH who require mechanical ventilation and can assist in making individualized interventions by providing valuable information.
Project description:Objective: The number of patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) is increasing worldwide, but the weaning outcome prediction model in these patients is still lacking. We hence aimed to develop an explainable machine learning (ML) model to predict successful weaning in patients requiring PMV using a real-world dataset. Methods: This retrospective study used the electronic medical records of patients admitted to a 12-bed respiratory care center in central Taiwan between 2013 and 2018. We used three ML models, namely, extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), random forest (RF), and logistic regression (LR), to establish the prediction model. We further illustrated the feature importance categorized by clinical domains and provided visualized interpretation by using SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) as well as local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME). Results: The dataset contained data of 963 patients requiring PMV, and 56.0% (539/963) of them were successfully weaned from mechanical ventilation. The XGBoost model (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.908; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.864-0.943) and RF model (AUC: 0.888; 95% CI 0.844-0.934) outperformed the LR model (AUC: 0.762; 95% CI 0.687-0.830) in predicting successful weaning in patients requiring PMV. To give the physician an intuitive understanding of the model, we stratified the feature importance by clinical domains. The cumulative feature importance in the ventilation domain, fluid domain, physiology domain, and laboratory data domain was 0.310, 0.201, 0.265, and 0.182, respectively. We further used the SHAP plot and partial dependence plot to illustrate associations between features and the weaning outcome at the feature level. Moreover, we used LIME plots to illustrate the prediction model at the individual level. Additionally, we addressed the weekly performance of the three ML models and found that the accuracy of XGBoost/RF was ~0.7 between weeks 4 and week 7 and slightly declined to 0.6 on weeks 8 and 9. Conclusion: We used an ML approach, mainly XGBoost, SHAP plot, and LIME plot to establish an explainable weaning prediction ML model in patients requiring PMV. We believe these approaches should largely mitigate the concern of the black-box issue of artificial intelligence, and future studies are warranted for the landing of the proposed model.
Project description:Patients with impending respiratory failure often require mechanical ventilation to optimize gas exchange. Although this form of assisted ventilation is required for survival, its persistent use results in diaphragm weakness and muscle fiber atrophy. There is strong evidence that mechanical ventilation alters the structure and function of the diaphragm, resulting in prolonged dependence on assisted ventilation and long-term consequences such as a delayed functional recovery, reduced quality of life and increased risk of mortality. This review summarizes the mechanisms underlying diaphragm dysfunction due to prolonged mechanical ventilation, highlights the role of inspiratory muscle exercise as a strategy to counter diaphragm weakness, and identifies the parameters of an evidence-supported exercise prescription for difficult to wean patients.
Project description:Successful weaning from ventilators not only improves the quality of life of patients, but also reduces medical expenses. The aim of this study was to explore the association between nutritional provision and successful ventilator weaning. In this retrospective study data from the Respiratory Care Center of Chung Shan Medical University Hospital between October, 2017 and July, 2019 on patient characteristics, amount of nutrition delivered, and clinical outcomes were retrieved. A total of 280 ventilated patients were enrolled and divided into successful extubation and failed weaning groups. There were 178 males (63.6%) and 102 females (36.4%) with a mean age of 67.3 ± 16.9 years. The successful extubation group consisted of patients who tended towards ideal body weight during the weaning process (BMI 23.9 ± 5.0 versus 22.7 ± 4.8 kg/m2, p < 0.001). Patients from both groups initially received the same nutritional intervention, while patients of successful extubation received significantly more calories and protein after weaning (23.8 ± 7.8 kcal versus 27.8 ± 9.1 kcal, p < 0.001 and 0.97 ± 0.36 g versus 1.14 ± 0.42 g, p < 0.001). Successful weaning was associated with higher survival rate (p = 0.016), shortened hospital stay (p = 0.001), and reduced medical costs (p < 0.001). Overall, nutritional support with high calories and protein was associated with the probability of successful ventilator weaning in patients undergoing prolonged mechanical ventilation. Adequate nutrition is a determinant of successful ventilator weaning.
Project description:BackgroundPatients who need prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV) have high resource utilization and relatively poor outcomes. The pathophysiologic mechanisms leading to weaning failure in this group may be complex and multifactorial. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with prolonged weaning based on the Weaning Outcome according to a New Definition (WIND) classification.MethodsThis is a prospective observational study with consecutive adult patients receiving MV for at least two calendar days in medical intensive care units from 1 November 2017 to 30 September 2020. Eligible patients were divided in a non-prolonged weaning group, including short and difficult weaning, and in a prolonged weaning group according to the WIND classification. The risk factors at the time of first separation attempt associated with prolonged weaning were analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression model.ResultsOf the total 915 eligible patients, 172 (18.8%) patients were classified as prolonged weaning. A higher proportion of the prolonged weaning group had previous histories of endotracheal intubation, chronic lung disease, and hematologic malignancies. When compared with the non-prolonged weaning group, the median duration of MV before the first spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) was longer and the proportion of tracheostomized patients was higher in prolonged weaning group. In addition, the prolonged weaning group used higher peak inspiratory pressures and yielded lower PaO2/FiO2 ratios at the day of the first SBT compared with the non-prolonged weaning group. In multivariate analyses, the duration of MV before first SBT (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-1.22, p < 0.001), tracheostomy state (adjusted OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.04-3.63, p = 0.036), PaO2/FiO2 ratio (adjusted OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.99-1.00, p = 0.023), and need for renal replacement therapy (adjusted OR = 2.68, 95% CI = 1.16-6.19, p = 0.021) were independently associated with prolonged weaning. After the exclusion of patients who underwent tracheostomy before the SBTs, similar results were obtained.ConclusionLonger duration of MV before the first SBT, tracheostomy status, poor oxygenation, and need for renal replacement therapy at the time of first SBT can predict prolonged weaning.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT05134467.