Weaning From Mechanical Ventilation, Extubation

This is a prospective observational study to be conducted in intensive care units of Global South countries. Patients on mechanical ventilation for more than 12 hours who have initiated the weaning process and for whom the attending team plans extubation within the next 6 hours will be included. Data will be collected for each patient during the first 7 days after extubation, with follow-up until hospital discharge or death. We plan to conduct the study in intensive care units from Global South countries (low- and middle-income countries predominantly located in the Southern Hemisphere, though some in the Northern Hemisphere are also considered).

This randomized controlled open label trial aims at comparing a weaning strategy including a spontaneous breathing trial as a prerequisite for extubation to a weaning strategy without a spontaneous breathing trial (direct extubation) in patients with readiness to be weaned criteria and considered at low risk of extubation failure. The main endpoint will be the proportion of patients successfully extubated within the 24 hours after randomization as compared to extubation after a successful spontaneous breathing trial (SBT).