Published in:
01-12-2005 | Editorial
Weaning failure from cardiovascular origin
Authors:
Christian Richard, Jean Louis Teboul
Published in:
Intensive Care Medicine
|
Issue 12/2005
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Excerpt
The goal in weaning from mechanical ventilation (MV) is to induce spontaneous breathing (SB) and ultimately extubation. Weaning fails in about 25% of patients meeting weaning criteria and is particularly frequent in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and/or left heart disease [
1]. Weaning failure prolongs the duration of MV and increases morbidity and mortality in these critically ill patients [
2]. Thus early identification and treatment of the causes of weaning failure is of paramount importance to improve outcome in difficult-to-wean patients. …