Unplanned extubation
OVERVIEW
- Unplanned extubation of mechanically ventilated patients is relatively common ( 0·5% to 14·2% of ICU patients in most studies, higher in a few outliers)
- Self-extubation refers to the patient’s action, who deliberately removes the endotracheal tube (most common type of unplanned extubation, typically occur at night)
- Accidental extubation is attributed either to personnel’s inappropriate manipulation of the tube during patient care or to a non-purposeful patient’s action, e.g. coughing (mostly occur in the morning)
- The event may occur without significant sequelae, but can also be life-threatening
RISK FACTORS
Patient factors
- Male
- Delirium
- Light sedation (note that most studies of daily interuppted sedation did not show increased rates of unplanned extubation)
- Difficulty securing tube (e.g. facial swelling, facial burns)
- previous unplanned extubation
Staff factors
- Junior staff
- Nurse-to-patient ratio
- Inadequately secured endotracheal tube and/or checks
Use of restraints and midazolam use are controversial risk factors for self-extubation, it may be that these are confounded by delirium
COMPLICATIONS
- effects of extubation with ETT cuff up
- hemodynamic effects: hypotension, arrhythmias
- laryngeal injury, bleeding or oedema
- airway obstruction
- acute pulmonary oedema due to loss of CPAP/PEEP in a patient with left ventricular failure
- respiratory failure
- aspiration
- reintubation and associated sequelae (e.g. prolonged stay, complications of mechanical ventilation, etc)
MANAGEMENT
- attend to potential life-threats using an ABC approach
- many patients (>50%) do not require reintubation if oxygenation and ventilation remains adequate (consider oxygen via NP or mask, high flow nasal prongs or NIV)
- check previous airway grade, obtain difficult airway trolley and call for assistance if likely difficult grade of intubation
- if stridor present, may need a smaller ETT than previously used due to laryngeal trauma/ oedema
- ensure the incident is documented and entered into a risk monitoring system; need to address cause of self-extubation
PREVENTION
- ensure endotracheal tube is well secured
- regular checks on endotracheal tube position and security
- identify patients appropriate for extubation as early as possible
- ensure appropriate analgesia, sedation and delirium management
- safe procedures should be established for performing oral care, renewing tube tapes and changing patient position on bed
- additional staff should be provided during high risk procedures e.g. transport
- use of restraints is controversial
References and Links
CCC Airway Series
Emergencies: Can’t Intubate, Can’t Intubate, Can’t Oxygenate (CICO), Laryngospasm, Surgical Cricothyroidotomy
Conditions: Airway Obstruction, Airway in C-Spine Injury, Airway mgmt in major trauma, Airway in Maxillofacial Trauma, Airway in Neck Trauma, Angioedema, Coroner’s Clot, Intubation of the GI Bleeder, Intubation in GIH, Intubation, hypotension and shock, Peri-intubation life threats, Stridor, Post-Extubation Stridor, Tracheo-esophageal fistula, Trismus and Restricted Mouth Opening
Pre-Intubation: Airway Assessment, Apnoeic Oxygenation, Pre-oxygenation
Paediatric: Paediatric Airway, Paeds Anaesthetic Equipment, Upper airway obstruction in a child
Airway adjuncts: Intubating LMA, Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA)
Intubation Aids: Bougie, Stylet, Airway Exchange Catheter
Intubation Pharmacology: Paralytics for intubation of the critically ill, Pre-treatment for RSI
Laryngoscopy: Bimanual laryngoscopy, Direct Laryngoscopy, Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy Airway Decontamination (SALAD), Three Axis Alignment vs Two Curve Theory, Video Laryngoscopy, Video Laryngoscopy vs. Direct
Intubation: Adverse effects of endotracheal intubation, Awake Intubation, Blind Digital Intubation, Cricoid Pressure, Delayed sequence intubation (DSI), Nasal intubation, Pre-hospital RSI, Rapid Sequence Intubation (RSI), RSI and PALM
Post-intubation: ETT Cuff Leak, Hypoxia, Post-intubation Care, Unplanned Extubation
Tracheostomy: Anatomy, Assessment of swallow, Bleeding trache, Complications, Insertion, Insertion timing, Literature summary, Perc. Trache, Perc. vs surgical trache, Respiratory distress in a trache patient, Trache Adv. and Disadv., Trache summary
Misc: Airway literature summaries, Bronchoscopic Anatomy, Cuff Leak Test, Difficult airway algorithms, Phases of Swallowing
CCC Ventilation Series
Modes: Adaptive Support Ventilation (ASV), Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV), High Frequency Oscillation Ventilation (HFOV), High Frequency Ventilation (HFV), Modes of ventilation, Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV), Spontaneous breathing and mechanical ventilation
Conditions: Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), ARDS Definitions, ARDS Literature Summaries, Asthma, Bronchopleural Fistula, Burns, Oxygenation and Ventilation, COPD, Haemoptysis, Improving Oxygenation in ARDS, NIV and Asthma, NIV and the Critically Ill, Ventilator Induced Lung Injury (VILI), Volutrauma
Strategies: ARDSnet Ventilation, Open lung approach, Oxygen Saturation Targets, Protective Lung Ventilation, Recruitment manoeuvres in ARDS, Sedation pauses, Selective Lung Ventilation
Adjuncts: Adjunctive Respiratory Therapies, ECMO Overview, Heliox, Neuromuscular blockade in ARDS, Prone positioning and Mechanical Ventilation
Situations: Cuff leak, Difficulty weaning, High Airway Pressures, Post-Intubation Care, Post-intubation hypoxia
Troubleshooting: Autotriggering of the ventilator, High airway and alveolar pressures / pressure alarm, Ventilator Dyssynchrony
Investigation / Indices: A-a gradient, Capnography and waveforms, Electrical Impedance Tomography, Indices that predict difficult weaning, PaO2/FiO2 Ratio (PF), Transpulmonary pressure (TPP)
Extubation: Cuff Leak Test, Extubation Assessment in ED, Extubation Assessment in ICU, NIV for weaning, Post-Extubation Stridor, Spontaneous breathing trial, Unplanned extubation, Weaning from mechanical ventilation
Core Knowledge: Basics of Mechanical Ventilation, Driving Pressure, Dynamic pressure-volume loops, flow versus time graph, flow volume loops, Indications and complications, Intrinsic PEEP (autoPEEP), Oxygen Haemoglobin Dissociation Curve, Positive End Expiratory Pressure (PEEP), Pulmonary Mechanics, Pressure Vs Time Graph, Pressure vs Volume Loop, Setting up a ventilator, Ventilator waveform analysis, Volume vs time graph
Equipment: Capnography and CO2 Detector, Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME), Ideal helicopter ventilator, Wet Circuit
MISC: Sedation in ICU, Ventilation literature summaries
Journal articles
- Kiekkas P, Aretha D, Panteli E, Baltopoulos GI, Filos KS. Unplanned extubation in critically ill adults: clinical review. Nurs Crit Care. 2013 May;18(3):123-34. PMID: 23577947.
Critical Care
Compendium
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at The Alfred ICU, where he is Deputy Director (Education). He is a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University, the Lead for the Clinician Educator Incubator programme, and a CICM First Part Examiner.
He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives. He was one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) has been recognised for his contributions to education with awards from ANZICS, ANZAHPE, and ACEM.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Bluesky, he is @precordialthump.bsky.social and on the site that Elon has screwed up, he is @precordialthump.
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