Journal of Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Medicine 2010 , Vol 1, Issue 1
Weaning Failure From Mechanical Ventilation
Kürşat Uzun 1
1Selçuk Üniversitesi Meram Tıp Fakültesi Göğüs Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı Konya, Türkiye

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a life-supporting modality that is used in a significant proportion of patients in ICUs. The discontinuation or withdrawal process from MV is an important clinical issue. It has been estimated that as much as 42% of the time that a medical patient spends on a mechanical ventilator is during the discontinuation process. About 70% to 80% of patients who require MV for respiratory failure will be extubated after a trial of spontaneous breathing once the precipitating process has been corrected. It was found that approximately 15% of patients failed an initial attempt of weaning from mechanical ventilation. Prolonged MV is associated with a host of complications (eg, infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, and deep venous thrombosis). Under these circumstances, the clinical focus should include a search for all of the possible reasons that may explain the ventilator dependency. 

Keywords : Weaning, failure, extubation