Assessing the Importance of Predictors of Successful Ventilator Weaning of Patients on Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation at Long Term Acute Care Hospitals

Author(s):  
H. Dunn ◽  
S. Corbridge ◽  
L. Quinn ◽  
K. Eldeirawi ◽  
M.C. Kapella ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Berna Demiralp ◽  
Lane Koenig ◽  
Jing Xu ◽  
Samuel Soltoff ◽  
John Votto

Abstract Background Long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) treat mechanical ventilator patients who are difficult to wean and expected to be on mechanical ventilator for a prolonged period. However, there are varying views on who should be transferred to LTACHs and when they should be transferred. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between length of stay in a short-term acute care hospital (STACH) after endotracheal intubation (time to LTACH) and weaning success and mortality for ventilated patients discharged to an LTACH. Methods Using 2014–2015 Medicare claims and assessment data, we identified patients who had an endotracheal intubation in STACH and transferred to an LTACH with prolonged mechanical ventilation (defined as 96 or more consecutive hours on a ventilator). We controlled for age, gender, STACH stay procedures and diagnoses, Elixhauser comorbid conditions, and LTACH quality characteristics. We used instrumental variable estimation to account for unobserved patient and provider characteristics. Results The study cohort included 13,622 LTACH cases with median time to LTACH of 18 days. The unadjusted ventilator weaning rate at LTACH was 51.7%, and unadjusted 90-day mortality rate was 43.7%. An additional day spent in STACH after intubation is associated with 11.6% reduction in the odds of weaning, representing a 2.5 percentage point reduction in weaning rate at 18 days post endotracheal intubation. We found no statistically significant relationship between time to LTACH and the odds of 90-day mortality. Conclusions Discharging ventilated patients earlier from STACH to LTACH is associated with higher weaning probability for LTACH patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation. Our findings suggest that delaying ventilated patients’ discharge to LTACH may negatively influence the patients’ chances of being weaned from the ventilator.


Author(s):  
Jeremy M Kahn

Long-term ventilator facilities play an increasingly important role in the care of chronically critically ill patients in the recovery phase of their acute illness. These hospitals can take several forms, depending on the country and health system, including �step-down� units within acute care hospitals and dedicated centres that specialize in weaning patients from prolonged mechanical ventilation. These hospitals may improve outcomes through increased clinical experience at applying protocolized weaning approaches and specialized, multidisciplinary, rehabilitation-focused care; they may also worsen outcomes by fragmenting the episode of acute care across multiple hospitals, leading to communication delays and hardship for families. Long-term ventilator facilities may also have important �spillover effects�, in that they free ICU beds in acute care hospitals to be filled with greater numbers of acute critically ill patients. Current evidence suggests that mortality of chronically critically ill patients is equivalent between acute care hospitals and specialized weaning centres; however, mechanical ventilation may be longer and cost of care higher in patients who remain in acute care hospitals. Given the rising incidence of prolonged mechanical ventilation and capacity constraints on acute care ICUs, long-term ventilator hospitals are likely to serve a key function in critical illness recovery.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 745-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Dermot Frengley ◽  
Giorgio R. Sansone ◽  
Robert J. Kaner

Objective: To determine whether burdens of chronic comorbid illnesses can predict the clinical course of prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV)patients in a long-term, acute-care hospital (LTACH). Methods: Retrospective study of 866 consecutive PMV patients whose burdens of chronic comorbid illnesses were quantified using the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS). Based on increasing CIRS scores, 6 groups were formed and compared: group A (≤25; n = 97), group B (26-28; n = 105), group C (29-31; n = 181), group D (32-34; n = 208), group E (35-37; n = 173), and group F (>37; n = 102). Results: As CIRS scores increased from group A to group F, rates of weaning success, home discharges, and LTACH survival declined progressively from 74% to 17%, 48% to 0%, and 79% to 21%, respectively (all P < .001). Negative correlations between the mean score of each CIRS group and correspondent outcomes also supported patients’ group allocation and an accurate prediction of their clinical course (all P < .01). Long-term survival progressively declined from a median survival time of 38.9 months in group A to 3.2 months in group F ( P < .001). Compared to group A, risk of death was 75% greater in group F ( P = .03). Noteworthy, PMV patients with CIRS score <25 showed greater ability to recover and a low likelihood of becoming chronically critically ill. Diagnostic accuracy of CIRS to predict likelihood of weaning success, home discharges, both LTACH and long-term survival was good (area under the curves ≥0.71; all P <.001). Conclusions: The burden of chronic comorbid illnesses was a strong prognostic indicator of the clinical course of PMV patients. Patients with lower CIRS values showed greater ability to recover and were less likely to become chronically critically ill. Thus, CIRS can be used to help guide clinicians caring for PMV patients in transfer decisions to and from postacute care setting.


Author(s):  
Jeremy M. Kahn

Successfully weaning patients from prolonged mechanical ventilation requires the varied expertise of a dedicated multidisciplinary care team. Traditionally, this care was provided in acute care hospitals, increasingly these patients are transferred to specialized weaning centres. These may improve patient outcomes by concentrating weaning expertise in a low-acuity environment and implementing protocols for liberation from mechanical ventilation. However, these centres might also worsen patient outcomes because they typically offer less intense nurse and physician staffing compared with traditional intensive care units. Generally, the clinical evidence is mixed, with the best studies suggesting that weaning centres offer similar outcomes as acute care hospitals, but at lower costs. Health systems also might stand to gain from dedicated weaning centres, because they can release intensive care unit beds for more acutely-ill patients. Many gaps remain in our understanding of which patients should be transferred to dedicated weaning centres, the optimal timing of transfer, and the best approach to care for patients in this highly specialized setting.


F1000Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 1241
Author(s):  
Meg Stearn Hassenpflug ◽  
Dale Jun ◽  
David R. Nelson ◽  
Tamas Dolinay

Background: Survivors of COVID-19 pneumonia often suffer from chronic critical illness (CCI) and require long-term hospitalization. Long-term acute care (LTAC) hospitals are vital in the care of CCI patients, but their role for patients post COVID-19 infection is not known. Barlow Respiratory Hospital (BRH) is a 105-bed, LTAC hospital network serving ventilator-dependent and medically-complex patients transferred from the ICUs of hospitals in southern California. We report patient characteristics of our first series of COVID-19 survivors admitted to the post-acute venue of an LTAC hospital. Methods: Single-center observational descriptive report of patients recovering from acute infectious complications of COVID-19 pneumonia requiring long-term respiratory support. Results: From 28 April to 7 September 2020, 41 patients were admitted to BRH for continued recovery from COVID-19 pneumonia. Median age: 68 [44-94] years, 25/41 (61%) male, 33/41 (80.5%) with tracheostomy, 21/41 (51.2%) on invasive mechanical ventilation, 9/41 (22%) receiving hemodialysis. All mechanical ventilation and hemodialysis interventions were initiated at the transferring hospital. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report to characterize CCI and medically complex COVID-19 patients transferred to the post-acute venue of an LTAC hospital. Patients on average spent over six weeks in the transferring hospital mostly in the ICU, are largely elderly, carry the known risk factors for COVID-19 infection, and experienced respiratory failure necessitating prolonged mechanical ventilation via tracheostomy. Our findings suggest that these patients will continue to require considerable medical interventions and treatments, including weaning from mechanical ventilation, owing to the numerous sequelae of the infection and the burden of acute-on-chronic diseases. As ICU survival rates improve, this research further emphasizes the important role of the LTAC hospital in responding to the COVID-19 crisis.


2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 218-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi O'Connor ◽  
Nada S. Al-Qadheeb ◽  
Alexander C. White ◽  
Vishal Thaker ◽  
John W. Devlin

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