Abstract
The introduction of home mechanical ventilation (HMV) in DMD is associated with increased life expectancy. In 2009, we introduced a transitional care coordinator role with the hypothesis that we would reduce the number of unplanned respiratory crises with early intervention. We have prospectively gathered data for all 75 patients with DMD under review in 2009.
Table 1
Analysis of these data was focused on the primary respiratory crisis admission requiring ventilatory support. Within 3 years we identified 19 patients who required initiation of HMV, all known to the respiratory team prior to initiation and only 3 (15.8%) were as a result of an emergency admission. Out of the 19 patients initiated on HMV, 16 were elective with a mean length of stay of 4.7 days (2-9) days. 1 patient was admitted directly from clinic as an emergency, requiring invasive ventilation but without tracheostomy formation. Of the two patients who required tracheostomy formation, one did not require NIV post discharge from hospital. The data supports that with timely intervention and coordination you can reduce the need for emergency inititiation of ventilation through respiratory crisis.
- © 2012 ERS
