• Jung-Wan Yoo, Seung Jun Lee, Jong Deog Lee, and Ho Cheol Kim.
• Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Korea.
• Korean J. Intern. Med. 2018 Mar 1; 33 (2): 331-339.

Background/AimsBoth diaphragmatic excursion and change in muscle thickening are measured using ultrasonography (US) to assess diaphragm function and mechanical ventilation weaning outcomes. However, which parameter can better predict successful extubation remains to be determined. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical utility of these two diaphragmatic parameters to predict extubation success.MethodsThis study included patients subjected to extubation trial in the medical or surgical intensive care unit of a university-affiliated hospital from May 2015 through February 2016. Diaphragm excursion and percent of thickening change (Δtdi%) were measured using US within 24 hours before extubation.ResultsSixty patients were included, and 78.3% (47/60) of these patients were successfully extubated, whereas 21.7% (13/60) were not. The median degree of excursion was greater in patients with extubation success than in those with extubation failure (1.65 cm vs. 0.8 cm, p < 0.001). Patients with extubation success had a greater Δtdi% than those with extubation failure (42.1% vs. 22.5%, p = 0.03). The areas under the receiver operating curve for excursion and Δtdi% were 0.836 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.717 to 0.919) and 0.698 (95% CI, 0.566 to 0.810), respectively (p = 0.017).ConclusionsDiaphragm excursion seems more accurate than a change in the diaphragm thickness to predict extubation success.

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