Airway occlusion pressure (P0.1) - A useful predictor for the weaning outcome in patients with acute respiratory failure -

Abstract

Twenty-five patients who required mechanical ventilatory support (MVS) after major surgery or severe burns were studied to determine whether airway occlusion pressure (P0.1) is a clinically useful indicator to predict the success or failure of the weaning trial. A total of 33 weaning trials were attempted on these patients. Of the 33 trials, 24 were followed by successful weaning and 9 by failure. Although the success group, when compared with the failure group, had a lower respiratory rate (P<0.001), a lower minute ventilation (P<0.001), a higher maximal voluntary ventilation to minute ventilation ratio (P<0.01) and a higher forced vital capacity (P<0.05), no threshold values separated the success from the failure group. The alveolar-arterial PO2gradient, with an Flo2 of 1.0, in weaning success and failure showed no statistical difference. In contrast, all patients in the success group had a P0.1 of less than 3.5 CmH20 and those in the failure group had a p0.1 of greater than 3.5 cmH2O (P<0.001). We conclude that P0.1 is a clinically superior indicator for discontinuing MVS in patients with acute respiratory failure. © 1990 Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists.