ABSTRACT
Objective To discuss the clinical application of homemade airway exchange catheter on the extubation of patients with difficult tracheal intubation in intensive care unit(ICU). Methods Sixty-two patients with difficult tracheal intubation who failed their initial extubation trial were randomly divided into conventional group (31 cases)and observation group(31 cases). The patients in the conventional group received routine extubation process,while the patients in the observation group were extubated under the guidance over a homemade airway exchange catheter. The changes in heart rate(HR),blood pressure,respiratory rate(RR)and pulse blood oxygen saturation(SpO2)were compared at 12 hours after extubation,so as the re-intubation rate,intubation success rate at first attempt and re-intubation time in two groups,and the tolerance and complications after extubation were observed. Results After extubation,the HR,blood pressure and RR were increased significantly(all P<0.05), and the SpO2 was much lower in conventional group(P<0.05),while those parameters were changed little and basically in the normal ranges in the observation group. At 12 hours after extubation,the re-intubation rate was much lower(6.45%vs. 25.81%,P<0.05)in the observation group,with shorter re-intubation time(seconds:27±14 vs. 49±28,P<0.01),higher intubation success rate at first attempt(90.32%vs. 54.84%,P<0.01)and better tolerance (77.4% vs. 61.3%,P<0.05)compared with those in the conventional group. There was no severe complication in the observation group,and there were 1 cases of glottic edema with cricothyroid membrane puncture,2 cases of broncheal mucous membrane bleeding and 2 cases of bucking in the conventional group. Conclusion Compared with conventional extubation process,the extubation over homemade airway exchange catheter can increase the rate of extubation,reduce re-intubation rate and the re-intubation time,with favorable tolerance and no occurrence of serious complications,and is one of the safe and effective extubation strategies in patients with difficult tracheal intubation in ICU.