Fitness checklist model for spontaneous breathing tests in pediatrics

To evaluate whether a model of a daily fitness checklist for spontaneous breathing tests is able to identify predictive variables of extubation failure in pediatric patients admitted to a Brazilian intensive care unit.

This was a single-center, cross-sectional study with prospective data collection. The checklist model comprised 20 items and was applied to assess the ability to perform spontaneous breathing tests.

The sample consisted of 126 pediatric patients (85 males (67.5%)) on invasive mechanical ventilation, for whom 1,217 daily assessments were applied at the bedside. The weighted total score of the prediction model showed the highest discriminatory power for the spontaneous breathing test, with sensitivity and specificity indices for fitness failure of 89.7% or success of 84.6%. The cutoff point suggested by the checklist was 8, with a probability of extubation failure less than 5%. Failure increased progressively with increasing score, with a maximum probability of predicting extubation failure of 85%.

The extubation failure rate with the use of this model was within what is acceptable in the literature. The daily checklist model for the spontaneous breathing test was able to identify predictive variables of failure in the extubation process in pediatric patients.