2 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Patients requiring the use of artificial ventilation (also called mechanical ventilation) for more than 21 days account for more than 37% of all ICU costs. As such, these patients are now transferred to centers that specialize in weaning patients from the respirator; these units are referred to as long-term acute care (LTAC) facilities. Despite the increase of LTAC facilities, research on the fastest method for disconnecting the patient from the respirator is lacking. In addition, little information is available regarding the long-term survival and quality of life after a prolonged course of artificial ventilation. The purpose of this study is to determine the fastest method for disconnecting the patient from the respirator at a LTAC facility and its effect on long-term survival and quality of life.
We designed this study to dtermine whether invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) would have an impact on the reclassification of patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) -treated previously with non-invasive respiratory support- into categories of severity (mild, moderate, and severe). Our hypothesis is that the assessment of PaO2/FiO2 ratio on PEEP greater or equal to 5 cmH2O after intubation, in patients labeled as mild/moderate/severe AHRF while on non-invasive respiratory support, would identify that a marked proportion of patients would change the degree of severity after a brief period of invasive MV