Abstract
Background: Respiratory failure is a common indication for mechanical ventilation. Evaluation of weaning from the ventilator is important to reduce morbidity and mortality. Previous studies showed the correlation between handgrip strength (HGS) and respiratory muscle power. This study aimed to evaluate the HGS test as a predictor for in-hospital clinical outcomes.
Methods: A prospective study was conducted between January 2018 and January 2019. Patients required mechanical ventilation for at least 48 hours. HGS, duration of ventilator weaning, extubation, reintubation, number of ventilator-free days within 28 days and in-hospital mortality were recorded.
Results: A total of 34 patients (52.9% men) were included. When compared to the non-reintubation group, the re-intubation group had significantly lower maximal HGS at 10 minutes and 30 minutes after starting spontaneous breathing trial(SBT)(7.6 ± 4.8 kg Vs 13.4 ± 6.5 kg, P=0.045 and 8.0 ± 5.1 kg Vs 13.2 ± 5.7 kg, P = 0.047). Moreover, at 1 hour and 48 hours of post-extubation, the reintubation group had lower maximal HGS than non-reintubation group(8.0 ± 5.2 kg Vs 14.0 ± 5.6 kg, P = 0.023 and 4.2 ± 0.2 kg Vs 14.3 ± 6.0 kg, P = 0.018). Significant positive correlation was found between ventilator free day within 28 days and maximal HGS at 1 hour of post extubation(r = 0.34, P = 0.05). However, there was no difference in HGS between survival group and death group over time.
Conclusions: HGS was the predictive tool for extubation failure in mechanically ventilated patients. Lower strength significantly increased reintubation rate. However, this measurement could not predict on 28-day in-hospital mortality.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2019; 54: Suppl. 63, PA4016.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2019