Intraoperative variables associated with extubation time in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Decreasing mechanical ventilation and early extubation in patients has many clinical and financial benefits. Therefore, an awareness of some variables those are associated with extubation time can help nurses to plan appropriate care aimed at doing an early and safe extubation. In this study, we identified whether any intraoperative variables had a significant effect on the extubation time following coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

The research was conducted in a university-affiliated hospital in Tehran, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, the data were collected by reviewing 93 files of eligible patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery between December 2004 and March 2006. The data collection tool was a checklist consisting of some intraoperative variables: the number of grafts, the duration of time of the cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamping, the use of the internal mammary artery, and the extubation time as the dependent variable. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical methods.

Extubation was achieved for 93 patients in a mean time of 7.19 +/- 3.00 h: 43% of the patients were extubated in 6 h after surgery, classifying them into the early and delayed extubation groups, respectively. On statistical analysis, the duration of the aortic cross-clamping was found to have a significant effect on the extubation time.

This study revealed that the duration of the aortic cross-clamping might play a role in the extubation time. Therefore, it is recommended that nurses consider this in their assessment of extubation as a shorter aortic cross-clamping time might lead to earlier extubation.