Objective
We aimed to determine the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of unplanned
extubation among adult patients.
Methods
We conducted a prospective cohort study of adult intubated patients admitted
to the charity wards of a government tertiary teaching hospital in the
Philippines. Patients managed in both intensive care and nonintensive care
settings were included. Patients were followed-up until discharge or until
seven days postextubation.
Results
The outcomes of the 191 included patients were planned extubation (35%),
unplanned extubation (19%), death (39%), and discharge against advice (7%).
Competing risk regression showed that male sex (Crude OR: 2.25, 95%CI: 1.10
- 4.63) and age (Crude OR 0.976, 95%CI: 0.957 - 0.996) were significant
baseline factors. The night shift (Crude OR: 24.6, 95%CI: 2.87 - 211) was
also consistently associated with more unplanned extubations. Among
postextubation outcomes, reintubation (unplanned extubation: 61.1%
versus
planned extubation: 25.4%), acute respiratory
failure (unplanned extubation: 38.9%
versus
planned
extubation: 17.5%), and cardiovascular events (unplanned extubation: 8.33%
versus
planned extubation: 1.49%) occurred
significantly more often among the unplanned extubation patients. Admission
in an intensive care unit was not associated with a lower risk of unplanned
extubation (Crude OR 1.15, 95%CI: 0.594 - 2.21).
Conclusion
Many intubated patients had unplanned extubation. Patients admitted in
nonintensive care unit settings did not have significantly higher odds of
unplanned extubation.