Respiratory care
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The transition from an ICU ventilator to a portable home ventilator (PHV) for children requiring long-term mechanical ventilation is a crucial step in preparing for discharge home and may not be successful on the first attempt. A review of this process at our institution revealed that some children required multiple trials before they were able to tolerate a PHV. A protocol was developed to standardize the transition process and reduce the number of failed attempts. Key features of the protocol included a transition readiness assessment and criteria for changing to the PHV. ⋯ The process of changing from an ICU ventilator to a PHV in children requiring long-term mechanical ventilation was improved through the use of a standardized protocol. Both the number of failed attempts and the length of time to achieve successful transition were reduced when the protocol was applied. Further study is needed to evaluate other medical and nonmedical factors that may affect successful transition to a PHV.
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In actuality, it is difficult to obtain an early prognostic stratification for patients with acute respiratory failure treated with noninvasive ventilation (NIV). We tested whether an early evaluation through a predictive scoring system could identify subjects at risk of in-hospital mortality or NIV failure. ⋯ Among the subjects treated with NIV for acute respiratory failure, the HACOR score seemed to be a useful tool to identify those at risk of in-hospital mortality.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of the Oxygenation Factor and the Oxygenation Ratio in Subjects With ARDS.
The oxygenation ratio (ie, [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text]) remains the most commonly used index for assessing oxygenation and disease severity in patients with acute ARDS. However, the oxygenation ratio does not account for mechanical ventilation settings. We hypothesized that the oxygenation factor (ie, oxygenation ratio/mean airway pressure) is superior to the oxygenation ratio in reflecting oxygenation in patients with ARDS and results in a different classification of ARDS severity. ⋯ The oxygenation factor was a superior ARDS oxygenation index compared to the oxygenation ratio and should be considered as a substitute criteria for classification of the severity of ARDS. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT03946189.).
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Respiratory failure after orthotopic liver transplantation is associated with increased mortality and prolonged hospitalization. ⋯ Early tracheostomy after transplantation was associated with lower in-hospital mortality, shorter post-tracheostomy length of stay, and quicker discharge alive. These results supported our hypothesis that, among subjects with respiratory failure after orthotopic liver transplantation, early tracheostomy after transplantation may be associated with more favorable outcomes than a delayed approach.
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Mechanical ventilation is a life-support therapy that can be associated with respiratory muscle dysfunction that may perturb the weaning process. The timed inspiratory effort (TIE) index is a recently proposed weaning index that has been reported to be effective in predicting successful weaning. We sought to analyze the respiratory muscle groups involved with the TIE index measurement utilizing the surface electromyography (sEMG). ⋯ Subjects succeeding in a weaning trial had higher muscle strength, confirmed in the pooled and the individual sEMG analysis. A vigorous diaphragm with low fatigue potential seems essential for successful weaning; the sternocleidomastoid may also be of importance in this regard.