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  • Daily interruption of sedative infusions reduced duration of mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit stay in critically ill patients

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Daily interruption of sedative infusions reduced duration of mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit stay in critically ill patients

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebn.3.4.121

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    Kress JP, Pohlman AS, O'Connor MF, et al. Daily interruption of sedative infusions in critically ill patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.N Engl J Med2000 May 18;342:1471–7.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science

    QUESTION: Does daily interruption of sedative infusions in critically ill patients reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation and length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and in hospital?

    Design

    Randomised {allocation concealed}*, blinded {patients and clinicians}* controlled trial with follow up to hospital discharge.

    Setting

    A medical ICU in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

    Patients

    150 patients who were intubated and receiving mechanical ventilation and who required sedation by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion (eg, patients who showed agitation or discomfort after recovering from drugs used to facilitate intubation). Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, transfer from an outside institution where sedatives had already been given, and admission after resuscitation from cardiac arrest. 128 patients (53% women) were included in the final analysis (22 patients died or were extubated on the first or second day in the ICU).

    Intervention

    75 patients were allocated to daily …

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    Footnotes

    • Source of funding: no external funding.

    • For correspondence: Dr J B Hall, University of Chicago, Department of Medicine, Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care, MC 6026, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Fax +1 773 702 4754.

    • ↵* Information provided by author.