Reducing Intubation Time in Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery Patients With a Fast-track Extubation Protocol.

Abstract

Background

Prolonged intubation after cardiac surgery increases the risk of morbidity and mortality and lengthens hospital stays. Factors that influence the ability to extubate patients with speed and efficiency include the operation, the patient's baseline physiological condition, workflow processes, and provider practice patterns.

Local problem

Progression to extubation lacked consistency and coordination across the team. The purpose of the project was to engage interprofessional stakeholders to reduce intubation times after cardiac surgery by implementing fast-track extubation and redesigned care processes.

Methods

This staged implementation study used the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control approach to quality improvement. Barriers to extubation were identified and reduced through care redesign. A protocol-driven approach to extubation was also developed for the cardiothoracic intensive care unit. The team was engaged with clear goals and given progress updates.

Results

In the preimplementation cohort, early extubation was achieved in 48 of 101 patients (47.5%) who were designated for early extubation on admission to the cardiothoracic intensive care unit. Following implementation of a fast-track extubation protocol and improved care processes, 153 of 211 patients (72.5%) were extubated within 6 hours after cardiac surgery. Reintubation rate, length of stay, and 30-day mortality did not differ between cohorts.

Conclusions

The number of early extubations following cardiac surgery was successfully increased. Faster progression to extubation did not increase risk of reintubation or other adverse events. Using a framework that integrated personal, social, and environmental influences helped increase the impact of this project.

Department

Description

Provenance

Subjects

Humans, Length of Stay, Cardiac Surgical Procedures, Retrospective Studies, Intubation, Intratracheal, Time Factors, Adult, Airway Extubation

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.4037/ccn2021189

Publication Info

Ellis, Myra F, Heather Pena, Allen Cadavero, Debra Farrell, Mollie Kettle, Alexandra R Kaatz, Tonda Thomas, Bradi Granger, et al. (2021). Reducing Intubation Time in Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery Patients With a Fast-track Extubation Protocol. Critical care nurse, 41(3). pp. 14–24. 10.4037/ccn2021189 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/29717.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Scholars@Duke

Cadavero

Allen Cadavero

Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of Nursing
Granger

Bradi Bartrug Granger

Research Professor in the School of Nursing

Dr. Bradi Granger is a Research Professor at Duke University School of Nursing, Director of the Duke Heart Center Nursing Research Program, and adjunct faculty at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She is also a core faculty at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. Dr. Granger received her doctorate in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her MSN from Duke University, and her BSN from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Dr. Granger has extensive clinical experience in cardiovascular nursing, and her clinical work as a Clinical Nurse Specialist has been dedicated to overcoming barriers to the use and conduct of research in the service setting through the development of pragmatic tools that change the way nurses learn about, apply, and conduct nursing science. She has developed an innovative model for clinical inquiry and research in the hospital setting, which has been adopted in clinical settings across the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Granger is an active member of the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the American Heart Association, and the European Society for Patient Adherence, Compliance, and Persistence. 

Ghadimi

Kamrouz Ghadimi

Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

Dr. Kamrouz (Kam) Ghadimi is an experienced cardiovascular acute care specialist (cardiovascular anesthesiology and intensive care), established investigator, physician leader, and associate professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at Duke Health.

His clinical practice is rooted in the cardiothoracic surgical ICU and operating rooms. He has broad expertise in all topics involving perioperative cardiovascular medicine and intensive care, including the management of acutely ill patients after surgery or those receiving extracorporeal life support (ECLS/ECMO). His specific area of expertise focuses on the enhancement of blood circulation through the lungs and the reversal of bleeding with prevention of thrombosis after surgery and circulatory life support. He has published original research, invited reviews, and guidance documents in several high-impact multidisciplinary journals and networks, including JAMACirculationBMJJournal of the American College of Cardiology, Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, and Journal of Thrombosis & Haemostasis. He has also published in anesthesiology specialty journals, including Anesthesia & AnalgesiaAnesthesiology, Current Opinion in Anesthesiology, and the British Journal of Anaesthesia. Dr. Ghadimi has served on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia since 2018 and has served as a peer reviewer for more than 30 top-medical journals worldwide.

Over his career, he has developed a global multidisciplinary network of collaborators and colleagues in academic medicine, private practice, larger healthcare systems, and offices of the federal government. He has experience with grant funding from a variety of sponsors, including federal, industry, foundation, philanthropy, and institutional sources. He also holds positions on several other national and international committees aimed at improving cardiovascular health in patients undergoing surgery and post-surgical intensive care. He is a selected task force and writing committee member of the 2024 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association Perioperative Cardiovascular Guidelines. He has devoted the majority of his career to the service of patients requiring cardiovascular perioperative and surgical intensive care.

In addition to a doctorate in Medicine, Dr. Ghadimi holds a Bachelor’s in Economics from Boston University and a Master’s in Clinical Research from Duke University School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. He is also an inventor with patents/patents pending, a medical consultant, a mentor, and an investor. He is a founding member and the original academic director of True Learn, an eLearning company focused on board exam preparation for multiple medical subspecialties. This resource is used by many physicians around the country. Beyond developing an educational platform that has reached several thousand physicians and physicians-in-training, Dr. Ghadimi has formally mentored 22 pre-doctorate and post-doctorate trainees, with several mentees continuing their faculty careers in academic practice. In addition, he serves as a resource for a multitude of other physicians, physicians-in-training, and allied healthcare professionals.

Currently, Dr. Ghadimi serves as Director of the Clinical Research Unit for the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke Health, leading a cohesive, high-performing management team that oversees 45 staff working with Anesthesiology faculty and faculty in other departments to operationalize more than 80 innovative research protocols annually (single- and multi-site studies) to advance the fields of perioperative medicine, intensive care, pain management, and brain and heart health. He is leading digital health and artificial intelligence implementation in research workflow to rapidly leverage capabilities for automation and efficiency with the evolving guidance of cybersecurity compliance.  He has also led the expansion of the Human Biospecimen Repository within the Department of Anesthesiology, where participants from prospective studies have generously donated biofluids and tissue for the advancement of disease-specific biology and translational research. Dr. Ghadimi is currently involved in the One Duke Gen precision medicine initiative for Duke Health to catalyze high-impact translational discoveries through expansive data-driven partnerships.


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