Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study population.
| Successful weaning N = 38 |
Failure to wean N = 64 |
P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 51.1 ± 13.2 | 59.4 ± 15.4 | 0.007 |
| Gender (M/F) | 15/23 | 27/37 | 0.83 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 55.6 ± 14.2 | 52.1 ± 13.2 | 0.2 |
| Charlson index | 4 (3–5) | 6 (4–8) | 0.003 |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Chronic heart diseases, n (%) | 6 (16) | 17 (27) | 0.23 |
| Chronic pulmonary diseases, n (%) | 6 (16) | 22 (34) | 0.07 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 28 (74) | 45 (70) | 0.72 |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 20 (53) | 29 (45) | 0.54 |
| Renal insufficiency, n (%) | 7 (18) | 20 (31) | 0.16 |
| Underlying causes for mechanical ventilation | |||
| Cardiac failure, n (%) | 4 (11) | 9 (14) | 0.83 |
| Sepsis, n (%) | 14 (37) | 26 (41) | 0.87 |
| Respiratory failure, n (%) | 15 (39) | 20 (31) | 0.52 |
| Gastrointestinal∗, n (%) | 2 (5) | 2 (3) | 0.99 |
| Neurologic†, n (%) | 3 (8) | 7 (11) | 0.87 |
| Type of procedure | 0.68 | ||
| Surgical, n (%) | 22 (58) | 41 (64) | |
| Percutaneous, n (%) | 16 (42) | 23 (36) | |
| Timing to tracheotomy, days | 10.9 ± 5.3 | 12.3 ± 7.0 | 0.29 |
| PaO2/FIO2 at the time of tracheotomy | 169.9 ± 97.9 | 180.1 ± 107.4 | 0.63 |
| APACHE II | 12.5 ± 5.9 | 14.2 ± 5.1 | 0.13 |
*Underlying gastrointestinal causes for mechanical ventilation included pancreatitis, diffuse colitis, and cholecystitis.
†Underlying neurologic causes for mechanical ventilation included cerebrovascular accidents and seizure disorders.