Objective: To describe risk factors for unplanned extubation (UE) among critically ill adults requiring mechanical ventilation and to identify strategies to reduce the occurrence of this adverse event.
Methods: Review of the literature.
Results: Inadvertent removal of an endotracheal tube, or a UE, occurs in 7% to 22.5% of mechanically ventilated adult patients and is often due to deliberate patient removal. Despite the multitude of research examining risk factors and predictors of UE, rates have remained unchanged for the past 2 decades. Risk factors can be classified by intensive care unit (ICU) type, including medical ICUs, surgical ICUs, and mixed medical-surgical ICUs. The majority of risk factors for UEs across ICUs may be amenable to changes in unit processes, such as programs for agitation management, use of weaning protocols, increased surveillance of patients, and ongoing education for patients and health care staff.
Conclusion: Prevention of UE remains an elusive target. Changes in unit processes that target identified risk factors may be an effective method to decrease prevalence of UE.
Unplanned extubation (UE) is the inadvertent removal of an endotracheal tube, either by a patient (deliberate self-extubation), or by a member of the health care team providing routine care such as repositioning, suctioning, or procedures (accidental extubation). Approximately 7% to 22.5% of mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) experience UE [1–7]. Estimates are likely higher, as current regulatory and accreditation standards do not include mandatory reporting of this event. Despite numerous studies investigating risk factors associated with UE, it remains a prevalent problem with adverse outcomes for patients and hospitals. The purpose of this review is to provide a summary of the literature on risk factors for UE, review effects on patient and organizational outcomes, and identify evidence-based strategies for reducing occurrence of UE among mechanically ventilated patients.
Prevalence of Unplanned Exubation
There is substantial heterogeneity in how UE is calculated and reported in the research literature. UE is calculated as the number of UE events per 100 or 1000 patient days, or the number of UE per total ventilator days. Rates of UE are also reported as the proportion of patients who experience UE out of all intubated patients over a set time period [8]. Despite efforts aimed at mitigating risk factors for UE, rates have remained static over the past 2 decades. Reported UE rates from 1994–2002 were 2.6% to 14% [3,6,9–11], while rates from 2004–2014 ranged from 1% to 22% [3–5,8,12–15]. Interventions utilizing a multidisciplinary approach have been implemented with the aim of decreasing UE, yet few have proven successful on improving rates nationally.
Unplanned self-extubation by the patient (deliberate self-extubation) is the most common type of UE [3,10,12,16–18]. A multicenter trial of 426 patients from 11 medical centers indicates that 46 patients experienced UE, with 36 of these (78.2%) caused by patient self-extubation [6]. Prospective single-site studies report similar or higher estimates of patient self-extubation, ranging from 75.8% to 91.7% [3,5], while a multisite study of 10,112 patients revealed 32 of 35 UE (91.4%) were due to patient self-extubation [12]. Similarly, a 4-year analysis of 85 UEs reported 82 incidences (96.5%) were a result of deliberate patient removal [13]. Patients either physically pull out the endotracheal tube or use their tongue or coughing/gagging maneuvers to displace or intentionally remove the endotracheal tube [5]. Only 3% to 8% of UEs are caused by inadvertent removal by health care staff [3,5,12,13].
