Weaning and extubation in neurocritical care patients / 中华危重病急救医学

Due to primary diseases of neurocritical care unit (NCU) patients, they have particularities with low level of consciousness, poor airway protective ability, damaged respiratory drive and respiratory motor conduction pathway. Such patients have higher rates of weaning difficulty, delayed extubation, extubation failure and tracheostomy. There are several guidelines on weaning and extubation for intensive care unit (ICU) patients, while there are no guidelines for for NCU patients. Therefore, we reviewed current guidelines and recommendations on weaning and extubation in both ICU and NCU patients suggesting considerations of neurological condition, level of consciousness and presence of airway protective reflexes before extubation, moreover, we introduced researches about protocols of weaning for NCU patients and related predictors.

Desmame e interrupção da ventilação mecânica / Mechanical ventilation of weaning interruption

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: Em 2000, foi publicado o II Consenso Brasileiro de Ventilação Mecânica. Desde então, o conhecimento na área da ventilação mecânica avançou rapidamente, com a publicação de inúmeros estudos clínicos que acrescentaram informações importantes para o manuseio de pacientes críticos em ventilação artificial. Além disso, a expansão do conceito de Medicina Baseada em Evidências determinou a hierarquização das recomendações clínicas, segundo o rigor do método dos estudos que as embasaram. Essa abordagem explícita vem ampliando a compreensão e a aplicação das recomendações clínicas. Por esses motivos, a AMIB - Associação de Medicina Intensiva Brasileira - e a SBPT - Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia - julgaram conveniente a atualização das recomendações descritas no Consenso anterior. Dentre os tópicos selecionados o desmame da Ventilação Mecânica foi um dos temas propostos. O objetivo foi descrever os pontos mais importantes relacionados ao desmame da ventilação mecânica. MÉTODO: Objetivou-se chegar a um documento suficientemente sintético, que refletisse a melhor evidência disponível na literatura. A revisão bibliográfica baseou-se na busca de estudos através de palavras-chave e em sua gradação conforme níveis de evidência. As palavras-chave utilizadas para a busca foram: weaning e mechanical ventilation. RESULTADOS: São apresentadas recomendações quanto aos métodos de desmame utilizados, ao uso de protocolos e a identificação dos pacientes através do teste de ventilação espontânea. CONCLUSÕES: A liberação do paciente do ventilador é um momento muito importante da ventilação mecânica. A utilização de protocolos para reconhecimento dos pacientes aptos a serem extubados contribui com a redução do tempo de internação dos pacientes em unidade de terapia intensiva (UTI).

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The II Brazilian Consensus Conference on Mechanical Ventilation was published in 2000. Knowledge on the field of mechanical ventilation evolved rapidly since then, with the publication of numerous clinical studies with potential impact on the ventilatory management of critically ill patients. Moreover, the evolving concept of evidence - based medicine determined the grading of clinical recommendations according to the methodological value of the studies on which they are based. This explicit approach has broadened the understanding and adoption of clinical recommendations. For these reasons, AMIB - Associação de Medicina Intensiva Brasileira and SBPT - Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia - decided to update the recommendations of the II Brazilian Consensus. Weaning from mechanical ventilation has been one of the updated topics. This objective was described the most important topics related to weaning from mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Systematic review of the published literature and gradation of the studies in levels of evidence, using the keywords weaning and mechanical ventilation. RESULTS: Recommendations on the weaning from mechanical ventilation and how to select patients applying weaning protocols and spontaneous breathing test. CONCLUSIONS: Weaning is a very important period of mechanical ventilatory support. Weaning protocols are recommended to select patients ready to be extubated.

Hydrogen Breathing Test in Post-gastrectomized Patients / 第三军医大学学报

Hydrogen level in the exhaling air after oral lactose or glucose loading was determined in normal subjects and patients after gastreetoaiy. Basal hydrogen was less than 30 ppm in all the 16 normal subjects. After lactose ingestion, 13 subjects out of the 16 (81.2%) showed an increass of hydrogen excretion of 20 ppm or more. The average peak time of hydrogen accretion was in the 3.25 hours after lactose ingestion. After glucose ingestion,the increase of hydrogen excretion was less than 20 ppm. In 7 patients with Billroth I gastrec- tomy and 14 patients with Billroth II gastrectomy, increase of hydrogen excretion after lactose ingestion occurred in 6 out of the 7 (85.7%) and 12 out of the 14 (85.7%) respectively, which is not significantly different from that of the control. After glucose intake, increase of hydrogen excretion occurred in 1 out of the 7 (14.2%) and 5 out of the 14 (35.7%). The elevation of hydrogen in the exhaling air indicates the overgrowth of bowel bacteria. Our findings suggest that hydrogen breathing test after lactose loading is insensitive to reveal this phenomenon in patients after gastrectomy, but after glucose loading, the test might carry out this function especilly in those with Billroth II operation.