“We want to see patients in the ICU breathing on their own as soon as possible, and this trial identified some promising avenues to explore. We’re grateful to Irene Watpool, Rebecca Porteous, Jessica Haines, and all the respiratory therapists who made this trial a success in Ottawa,” said Dr. Andrew Seely.Many critically ill patients need intubation and a ventilator to help them breathe. This can cause weakness, discomfort and infection, so ICU staff want to get patients off ventilators as soon as is safely possible. A test called a spontaneous breathing trial is done before a patient’s breathing tube is removed to see if they can breathe with minimal or no support. 

An international clinical trial published in JAMA compared both screening frequency and level of ventilator support during this test in 797 patients to see if any changes in either parameter could speed up the time to ventilator removal. There were no significant differences when the methods were compared. 

However, there were findings that support daily screening and a low level of ventilator support which require further research. Dr. Andrew Seely, a scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and Tier 1 Clinical Research Chair at the University of Ottawa, led the trial site at The Ottawa Hospital which recruited 69 patients. 

“We want to see patients in the ICU breathing on their own as soon as possible, and this trial identified some promising avenues to explore. We’re grateful to Irene Watpool, Rebecca Porteous, Jessica Haines, and all the respiratory therapists who made this trial a success in Ottawa,” said Dr. Seely.

Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research 

The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.