• Dominic Recco, Sumedh Kaul, Michelle Doherty, Dawn McDougal, Feroze Mahmood, and Kamal R Khabbaz.
• Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiac Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2023 Jul 1; 37 (7): 119512001195-1200.

ObjectivesResidual neuromuscular blockade is associated with increased postoperative pulmonary complications. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of an extubation protocol incorporating neuromuscular blockade reversal (NMBR) by train-of-four monitoring on "fast-track" cardiac surgery outcomes.DesignA retrospective cohort study.SettingAt a university hospital.ParticipantsOut of 1,843 cardiac surgery patients, from February 2, 2015, to March 31, 2017, 957 (52%) underwent cardiac surgery on or after February 29, 2016.InterventionsAn extubation protocol, comprised of weaning from mechanical ventilation and NMBR guidelines, was implemented on February 29, 2016.Measurements And Main ResultsThe associations of baseline characteristics with the postoperative duration of mechanical ventilation (primary outcome) and respiratory and/or adverse complications (secondary outcomes) were evaluated using regression and interrupted- time series models. The implementation of an extubation protocol was associated with an 18% decrease in the duration of mechanical ventilation (incident rate ratio [IRR] 0.82, 95% CI 0.72-0.94; p < 0.01), statistically insignificant 26% increase in patients extubated ≤6 hours (odds ratio [OR] 1.26, 95% CI 0.97-1.65; p = 0.09), and 13% shorter intensive care unit length of stay (LOS) (IRR 0.87, 95% CI 0.79-0.97; p < 0.01). Patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass graft or isolated valve procedures, on or after February 29, 2016, had decreased extubation times (IRR 0.82, p < 0.01 and IRR 0.80, p = 0.02). The protocol did not have a statistically significant association with hospital LOS (IRR 0.98, p = 0.57) or readmission (OR 1.22, p = 0.33), and differences in the occurrence of pulmonary complications and adverse outcomes between the pre- and postprotocol groups were clinically insignificant.ConclusionsThe application of an extubation protocol incorporating NMBR based on neuromuscular monitoring was associated with a decrease in postoperative duration of mechanical ventilation and facilitated more patients meeting the early extubation benchmark without an increased risk of respiratory complications or adverse outcomes.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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