Establishing failure predictors for the planned extubation of overweight and obese patients

We investigated failure predictors for the planned extubation of overweight (body mass index [BMI] = 25.0–29.9) and obese (BMI ≥ 30) patients. All patients admitted to the adult intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary hospital in Taiwan were identified. They had all undergone endotracheal intubation for > 48 h and were candidates for extubation. During the study, 595 patients (overweight = 458 [77%]); obese = 137 [23%]) with planned extubation after weaning were included in the analysis; extubation failed in 34 patients (5.7%). Their mean BMI was 28.5 ± 3.8. Only BMI and age were significantly different between overweight and obese patients. The mortality rate for ICU patients was 0.8%, and 2.9% for inpatients during days 1–28; the overall in-hospital mortality rate was 8.4%. Failed Extubation group patients were significantly older, had more end-stage renal disease (ESRD), more cardiovascular system-related respiratory failure, higher maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), lower maximal expiratory pressure (MEP), higher blood urea nitrogen, and higher ICU- and 28-day mortality rates than did the Successful Extubation group. Multivariate logistic regression showed that cardiovascular-related respiratory failure (odds ratio [OR]: 2.60; 95% [confidence interval] CI: 1.16–5.80), ESRD (OR: 14.00; 95% CI: 6.25–31.35), and MIP levels (OR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.90–0.97) were associated with extubation failure. We conclude that the extubation failure risk in overweight and obese patients was associated with cardiovascular system-related respiratory failure, ESRD, and low MIP levels.