Abstract 13691: Factors Affecting Extubation Time Post-Cardiac Surgery

Introduction: Early extubation, defined as extubation within 6 hours post-operation, was found to be safe and associated with decreased complications and costs. Recent enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines recommend early extubation for cardiac surgery patients. This retrospective study aimed to assess our institution’s extubation strategy and identify predictive factors of early extubation in our cardiac surgery patients. Methods: Our study included 13,807 adult patients who underwent cardiothoracic surgery from 2010-2019 at our institution. Forward stepwise multivariable logistic regression analysis was used on patients with complete data (n=10,783) to identify predictors of early extubation. Results: Of the 10,783 patients, 3740 (35%) were extubated within 6 hours post-operation. Early extubated patients were younger, had higher BMI and more likely to be fast track designated. These patients more frequently underwent isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), isolated valve or adult congenital surgery than late extubated patients. Early extubated patients had higher incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and anxiety, and were less likely to have difficult intubation or require circulatory support post-surgery. Analysis of 10,783 patients showed BMI >30 (OR=1.840, 95% CI=1.624-2.083), fast track designation (OR=1.338, 95% CI=1.12-1.598) and having CAD (OR=1.107, 95% CI=1.007-1.217) to be predictive of early extubation. Data on patient transfer to the ICU were only available from 2014-2018. Within this sub-group of 7296 patients, variables predictive of early extubation included BMI >30 (OR=1.364, 95% CI=1.195-1.557), dayshift transfer to the ICU (OR=1.680, 95% CI=1.516-1.862), fast track designation (OR=1.397, 95% CI=1.115-1.751) and having isolated procedures such as CABG (OR=1.630, 95% CI=1.413-1.880) and valve surgery (OR=1.506, 95% CI=1.300-1.745). Conclusions: BMI >30, having fast track designation, and having CAD are associated with early extubation. When taking into account patient transfer to the ICU, BMI >30, having fast track designation, dayshift transfer to the ICU, and having isolated procedures such as CABG and valve surgery are associated with early extubation.