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Dave A Dongelmans

Publications and source records attributed to Dave A Dongelmans.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Tracheotomy does not affect reducing sedation requirements of patients in intensive care--a retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Translaryngeal intubated and ventilated patients often need sedation to treat anxiety, agitation and/or pain. Current opinion is that tracheotomy reduces sedation requirements. We determined sedation needs before and after tracheotomy of intubated and mechanically ventilated patients. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of the use of morphine, midazolam and propofol in patients before and after tracheotomy. RESULTS: Of 1,788 patients admitted to our intensive care unit during the study period, 129 (7%) were tracheotomized. After the exclusion of patients who received a tracheotomy before or at the day of admittance, 117 patients were left for analysis. The daily dose (DD; the amount of sedatives for each day) divided by the mean daily dose (MDD; the mean amount of sedatives per day for the study period) in the week before and the week after tracheotomy was 1.07 +/- 0.93 DD/MDD versus 0.30 +/- 0.65 for morphine, 0.84 +/- 1.03 versus 0.11 +/- 0.46 for midazolam, and 0.62 +/- 1.05 versus 0.15 +/- 0.45 for propofol (p < 0.01). However, when we focused on a shorter time interval (two days before and after tracheotomy), there were no differences in prescribed doses of morphine and midazolam. Studying the course in DD/MDD from seven days before the placement of tracheotomy, we found a significant decline in dosage. From day -7 to day -1, morphine dosage (DD/MDD) declined by 3.34 (95% confidence interval -1.61 to -6.24), midazolam dosage by 2.95 (-1.49 to -5.29) and propofol dosage by 1.05 (-0.41 to -2.01). After tracheotomy, no further decrease in DD/MDD was observed and the dosage remained stable for all sedatives. Patients in the non-surgical and acute surgical groups received higher dosages of midazolam than patients in the elective surgical group. Time until tracheotomy did not influence sedation requirements. In addition, there was no significant difference in sedation between different patient groups. CONCLUSION: In our intensive care unit, sedation requirements were not further reduced after tracheotomy. Sedation requirements were already sharply declining before tracheotomy was performed.

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PubMed2006

Time to wean after tracheotomy differs among subgroups of critically ill patients: retrospective analysis in a mixed medical/surgical intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the time to wean from mechanical ventilation and time spent off the ventilator per day after tracheotomy in critically ill patients in a 28-bed mixed medical and surgical intensive care unit (ICU) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients during the 14-month period from November 1, 2003, through January 1, 2005. Included were translaryngeally intubated mechanically ventilated patients who received a tracheotomy during their ICU stay. RESULTS: Of all the patients admitted to the ICU, 129 (7%) received a tracheotomy. Significantly more tracheotomies were performed in neurosurgery/neurology patients and in those admitted for acute conditions (16% and 12%, respectively). Tracheotomy was performed a median 8 days (interquartile range 4-13 d) after ICU admission. For all the patients, the median time to wean after tracheotomy was 5 days (interquartile range 2-11 d). Neurosurgery/neurology patients and patients in the cardiology subgroup needed significantly less time to wean from mechanical ventilation than did patients in other subgroups (3 d, interquartile range 2-7 d, and 3 d, interquartile range 2-5 d, respectively, p < 0.05). There was a significant association between admission group and neurological status at the time of tracheotomy. A low Glasgow coma scale score was associated with shorter time to wean. Within 1 week after tracheotomy, the probability of the patient having breathed spontaneously, without ventilator assistance, for > 4 h/d was 89%, 78% for > 8 h/d, and 72% for > 12 h/d. By day 28, the probability of the patient having breathed spontaneously for > 4 h/d was 98%, 97% for > 8 h/d, and 94% for > 12 h/d. CONCLUSION: Time to wean from after tracheotomy differed among the subgroups in our ICU. After tracheotomy, the majority of patients were quickly able to breathe spontaneously without assistance of the mechanical ventilator for several hours per day. Patients who require tracheotomy only for airway protection wean sooner than other patients.

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PubMed2004

Case report: a ball valve blood clot in the airways - life-saving whole tube suction.

Respiratory tract obstruction due to a blood clot may result in life threatening ventilatory impairment. Ball valve blood clot obstructions of the airways are rare. A ball valve blood clot acts as a one-way valve, allowing (near) normal air entry into the airways, but (completely) blocking expiration. In a near fatal case of obstruction of the airways by a ball valve blood clot, we performed 'whole tube suction' to resolve the airway problem.

Airway Obstruction↗