Analysis of mechanical ventilation time and hospitalization of patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery (CS) require invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) after surgery and a prolonged IMV can lead to an increased length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Objective: To determine if the length of IMV interferes in ICU length of stay. Methods: Patients undergoing CS and that remained less than 24 hours on IMV were prospectively analyzed. A total of 69 selected patients were admitted to the ICU and followed until extubation. With this information, it was possible to know the time that they remained in IMV and then how many days they stayed in the ICU until the time of discharge from the unit. Results: Most patients undergoing CS were male (56.5%); the mean age was 55.93±14.29 years; the most prevalent type of surgery was myocardial revascularization (71.0%); the average time of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was 65.05±20.06 minutes; the average length of stay in ICU was 2.18±1.10 days; the IMV time was 7.32±2.66 hours. There was no statistical significance between these two last variables with p=0.43. Conclusion: It can be concluded that there was no correlation between the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU length of stay in patients without immediate postoperative complications and who spent less than 12 hours of mechanical ventilation.