Weaning Indices of Mechanical Ventilator: An Integrative Review of the National Published Articles

Mechanical ventilation is considered to be a fundamental supportive measure in the patients admitted in intensive care units (ICUs). However, prolonged ventilation may lead to dependence and various other complications in the patients. Therefore, proper and timely weaning of the patients undergoing mechanical ventilation is of utmost importance in this therapeutic process. This integrative review aimed to assess the indices of ventilator weaning through a comprehensive literature search.

This systematic review was conducted via searching in databases such as SID, Web of Science, IranMedex, Magiran, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus using keywords such as weaning and ventilator weaning and their Persian equivalents without time limitation. In total, 15 articles were selected for further assessment.

According to the reviewed articles (n=15), various indices could be used to predict the appropriate time of ventilator weaning, including RSBI, IWI, P0.1, NIF, and CROP. The advantages and disadvantages of each index have also been elaborated in the published articles in this regard.

According to the results, there is no consensus on one index of ventilator weaning in patients with mechanical ventilation. Therefore, the current findings in this regard should be accumulated in order to determine the most effective indices of ventilator weaning in patients with mechanical ventilation.