Prevalence of extubation and associated risk factors at a tertiary care pediatric intensive care unit.

INTRODUCTION: Extubation failure (EF) is associated with a higher risk for pneumonia, hospital stay, and mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of EF and identify the associated factors in our population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational and retrospective design. All patients aged 1 month old to 18 years old who required mechanical ventilation for more than 12 hours and underwent at least one scheduled extubation during their stay in the 2012-2016 period were included. The aspects related to ventilation and the causes of failure were recorded.

RESULTS: Seven hundred and thirty-one patients were extubated and the prevalence of EF was 19.3 %. The causes of failure included upper airway obstruction (51.4 %), muscle fatigue (20.1 %), respiratory center depression (14.6 %), and inability to protect the airways (9.7 %). As per the multivariate analysis, the independent factors that accounted for EF were neurological complex chronic condition (odds ratio [OR] = 2.27; 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.21-4.26); acute lower respiratory tract infection in a patient with prior sequelae (OR = 1.87, 95 % CI = 1.113.15); acute neurological injury (OR = 1.92, 95 % CI = 1.03-3.57); unplanned extubation (OR = 2.52, 95 % CI = 1.02-6.21), and presence of stridor (OR = 5.84, 95 % CI = 3.66-9.31).

CONCLUSION: The main cause of EF was upper airway obstruction. Neurological sequelae, acute neurological injury, unplanned extubation, and the presence of postextubation stridor were identified as risk factors associated with EF.