Evaluation of Sedative and Analgesic Practices and Outcomes in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Sedative and analgesic agents are used for patient comfort during mechanical ventilation (MV) but can cause deleterious effects such as prolonged MV and delirium. Maintaining light sedation and performing daily awakening trials (DATs) can reduce untoward effects. We assessed the relationship between sedative and analgesic dose and 28-day MV-free survival in medical ICU (MICU), surgical ICU (SICU), and cardiac (CICU) patients, hypothesizing that higher doses would be associated with lower 28-day MV-free survival. METHOD(S) In this single-center retrospective study, MICU, SICU, and CICU patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital from 1/1/21-6/30/21 and on MV admitted for 1-7 days were randomly selected if their goal Sedation Agitation Scale (SAS) score was 3-4. Baseline demographics and clinical characteristics were collected. The primary outcome was correlation between average sedative or analgesic dose and 28-day MV-free survival. Secondary outcomes included time at goal SAS score, DAT completion, and deep sedation (SAS < 3) within 48 hours of intubation. The primary outcome was evaluated using linear regression;secondary outcomes were assessed with descriptive statistics. RESULT(S) 411 subjects, including 99 MICU, 54 SICU, and 27 CICU patients, were evaluated. 53% were male and the median age and weight were 66.5 years (IQR, 56-77) and 84 kg (IQR 70-100), respectively. 8% of MICU patients but no SICU or CICU patients had Covid-19. A history of chronic opioid use was most common in MICU and SICU patients (19% and 17%, respectively) and CICU patients most often had a history of chronic kidney disease (33%). Doses of dexmedetomidine, propofol, midazolam, and fentanyl demonstrated poor correlation with 28-day MV-free survival among all patients, with R-squared values of 0.002, 0.06, 0.01, and 0.1, respectively. The association of sedative dose was strongest for midazolam in MICU patients, with each 1mg/hr increase corresponding to a 0.6 day reduction in 28- day MV-free survival. SAS scores were 3-4 70% of the time, SATs were completed in 73% of appropriate cases, and 57% of patients were deeply sedated within 48 hours of intubation. CONCLUSION(S) In this regression analysis, sedative and analgesic doses were not associated with 28-day MV-free survival in a mixed critically ill population.