Background Many patients admitted to medical intensive care units require mechanical ventilation to assist with respiratory management. Unplanned extubations of these patients are associated with poor outcomes for patients and organizations. No previous research has investigated the role of standardized protocols in unplanned extubations when examined in conjunction with traditional risk factors.
Objective To identify risk factors associated with unplanned extubation among patients receiving mechanical ventilation and determine degree of compliance with pain, sedation, and weaning protocols.
Methods A prospective cohort study design was used. Data on all patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit who required mechanical ventilation were gathered daily. Additional data were gathered on those patients who experienced unplanned extubation. Descriptive, correlational, and regression analyses were performed.
Results Weaning protocols were a significant predictor of unplanned extubation: patients who had weaning protocols ordered and followed were least likely to experience unplanned extubation. Only 10% of the 190 patients in the study required reintubation, resulting in a significantly shorter ventilation time and unit length of stay among the unplanned extubation group.
Conclusions Weaning protocols were associated with decreased incidence of unplanned extubation. Use of standardized protocols was feasible, as compliance among health care providers was high when protocols were medically prescribed. The reintubation rate in this study was low and associated with a significantly shorter ventilatory period and unit length of stay in the unplanned extubation group.
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Identify weaning protocols used in assisting planned extubations.
Explore types and percentages of unplanned extubations.
Examine important implications of unplanned extubations for patient care.
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A number of patients admitted to medical intensive care units (MICUs) require mechanical ventilation to assist with short- or long-term respiratory management and stabilization. Unplanned extubation (defined as an endotracheal tube being removed by the patient or accidentally) of MICU patients is a potentially life-threatening situation that continues to occur despite research and educational efforts. Unplanned extubation, whether deliberate or accidental, is associated with a number of medical complications and increased length of stay in the hospital and unit.1,2 Deliberate unplanned extubation occurs when a patient intentionally pulls out an endotracheal tube, whereas accidental unplanned extubation is the unintentional removal of the endotracheal tube by either patient or staff, which can occur with repositioning, procedures, or coughing.
Within our institution, an ongoing quality improvement project indicated that unplanned extubation continued to occur despite implementation of sedation, pain management, and weaning protocols that addressed factors reported in the literature to be associated with unplanned extubation. Additional investigation was needed to explore factors associated with unplanned extubation. Therefore, a research project was initiated with the following study aims: (1) to identify factors associated with unplanned extubation among patients admitted to the MICU who are receiving mechanical ventilation and (2) to determine the degree of compliance of physicians and nurses with sedation, pain, and weaning protocols.
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Background
The reported rates of unplanned extubation range between 7% and 18% in most ICUs.1,3–6 Risks associated with unplanned extubation include bronchospasms, arrhythmias, aspiration, pneumonia, respiratory failure, and cardiopulmonary arrest.7,8 Although mortality rates have not consistently been shown to increase with unplanned extubation, unplanned extubation does result in prolonged mechanical ventilation, longer ICU and hospital stay, and an increased need for chronic care for those patients who do not tolerate an unplanned extubation.1,9 Despite research regarding risk factors associated with unplanned extubation, it continues to occur and remains a serious complication of translaryngeal intubation.
Traditional Risk Factors for Unplanned Extubation
Several risk factors contribute to unplanned extubation among patients receiving mechanical ventilation in intensive care units. These factors include patient level variables such as agitation, altered level of consciousness, and inadequate sedation, as well as structure/environmental variables, which include oral intubation, method of securing tube, and the use of physical restraints.5,10,11
Unplanned extubation, whether deliberate or accidental, increases length of intensive care unit and hospital stay.
A case-control study of unplanned extubation among patients in medical and surgical ICUs indicated that patients who experience unplanned extubation were more likely to be medical patients, to have a current history of smoking, a nosocomial infection, or metabolic disorder, and to be agitated or restless and restrained.7 In a second study,9 researchers reported that all patients who experienced unplanned extubation were orally intubated, and 56% of those patients had to be emergently reintubated. Unplanned extubation is associated with prolonged duration of mechanical ventilation, and longer stays in the ICU and hospital. Other factors associated with unplanned extubation include anxiety, routine care interventions, and a history of previous unplanned extubations.12
Sedation/Agitation: The Role of Pain and Sedation Protocols
A key factor that contributes to unplanned self-extubation is inadequate level of sedation, resulting in increased agitation.10 A prospective, multicenter observational study4 showed that a major predisposing factor to unplanned extubation was the lack of intravenous sedation, along with the orotracheal route for intubation, and a lack of strong tube fixation. In a separate prospective study,13 researchers found agitation, common in intensive care units, to be associated with adverse outcomes including prolonged ICU stay, nosocomial infections, and unplanned extubations. Agitation and lack of sufficient sedation have repeatedly been identified as factors contributing to unplanned extubation.3,4,14,15
To address agitation and standardize sedation management practices among patients receiving mechanical ventilation, many institutions have adopted protocols or guidelines for administration of pain and sedation medications. Implementation of these protocols has decreased the variability of the types of medications used, shortened the duration of mechanical ventilation, and decreased length of stay in the hospital and ICU.16,17 Protocol adherence by all members of the health care team is equally important, as such adherence has contributed to decreased use of restraints and shorter stays.18 It is evident that use of pain and sedation protocols with patients receiving mechanical ventilation can improve patients’ outcomes. By decreasing the level of agitation among patients receiving mechanical ventilation, protocol use addresses a key factor associated with unplanned extubation. However, no studies were found that explored the impact of these protocols on rates of unplanned extubation when combined with traditional risk factors.
The Role of Weaning Protocols
The use of standardized protocols for weaning from mechanical ventilation has been widely studied.19–26 The use of computerized protocols or protocols directed by the nurse or respiratory therapist is effective in improving outcomes associated with mechanical ventilation, for example, reducing the number of ventilator days, reintubation rates, and rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia.19–24,27 However, additional research is needed to investigate the degree to which these weaning protocols influence unplanned extubation, which is a key ventilatory outcome not considered in previous studies.
On the basis of the factors identified in the literature as contributing to unplanned extubation in patients receiving mechanical ventilation, a conceptual framework was created (see Figure). Taggart and Lind8 suggest that variables influencing unplanned extubations can be categorized according to whether they are related to the patient, the structure/environment, or the process. The specific variables used in the present study were therefore categorized as such and are depicted in the Figure. The traditional risk factors identified in previous research studies encompass the patient variables and structure/environmental variables that were included in the present study. To examine how much standardized protocols for pain, sedation, and weaning affected unplanned extubation, we classified these variables as MICU process variables (see Figure).