Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Smart Care™ versus respiratory physiotherapy-driven manual weaning for critically ill adult patients: a randomized controlled trial.
A recent meta-analysis showed that weaning with SmartCare™ (Dräger, Lübeck, Germany) significantly decreased weaning time in critically ill patients. However, its utility compared with respiratory physiotherapist-protocolized weaning is still a matter of debate. We hypothesized that weaning with SmartCare™ would be as effective as respiratory physiotherapy-driven weaning in critically ill patients. ⋯ A respiratory physiotherapy-driven weaning protocol can decrease weaning time compared with an automatic system, as it takes into account individual weaning difficulties.