Monitoring of Predictors Contributing to Success or Failure of Early Weaning from Mechanical Ventilation Following Open Cardiac Surgery

Abstract

Open cardiac surgery is the most commonly performed major surgical procedure. Knowledge and technological advancement give rise to further challenge for nurses caring tor these patients. Postoperative ventilation of patients undergoing cardiac surgery has been standard practice for the past three decades. lt was initially j tified because of a relatively high incidence of respiratory insufficiency or low cardiac output state following cardiac surgery and the almost universal use of a high-dose opioid anesthetic technique. This practice has not changed substantially until the current decade, where economic considerations have been a driving force for fast-track cardiac anesthesia. Weaning is an art and science that encompasses a large spectrum of clinical interest among the critical care nurses society. This is in line with the advancement in surgical and anesthetic technique in open• cardiac surgery. Furthermore, critical care nurses play a crucial role in all phases of the weaning process which include: assessment of the patients' readiness to be weaned, planning of the weaning process regarding the patients• status, implementation of the weaning process, and finally continuous evaluation of the patients' status and signs and symptoms of weaning intolerance and extubation criteria. It is desirable to have objective measurements and predictors of weaning that increase confidence in the success of the weaning trial.