Weaning-associated interventions for ventilated intensive care patients: A scoping review

Mechanical ventilation is a core intervention in critical care, but may also lead to negative consequences. Therefore, ventilator weaning is crucial for patient recovery. Numerous weaning interventions have been investigated, but an overview of interventions to evaluate different foci on weaning research is still missing.

To provide an overview of interventions associated with ventilator weaning.

We conducted a scoping review. A systematic search of the Medline, CINAHL and Cochrane Library databases was carried out in May 2023. Interventions from studies or reviews that aimed to extubate or decannulate mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care units were included. Studies concerning children, outpatients or non-invasive ventilation were excluded. Screening and data extraction were conducted independently by three reviewers. Identified interventions were thematically analysed and clustered.

Of the 7175 records identified, 193 studies were included. A total of six clusters were formed: entitled enteral nutrition (three studies), tracheostomy (17 studies), physical treatment (13 studies), ventilation modes and settings (47 studies), intervention bundles (42 studies), and pharmacological interventions including analgesic agents (8 studies), sedative agents (53 studies) and other agents (15 studies).

Ventilator weaning is widely researched with a special focus on ventilation modes and pharmacological agents. Some aspects remain poorly researched or unaddressed (e.g. nutrition, delirium treatment, sleep promotion).

This review compiles studies on ventilator weaning interventions in thematic clusters, highlighting the need for multidisciplinary care and consideration of various interventions. Future research should combine different interventions and investigate their interconnection.