Weaning from Ventilator and Effect of Blender-Humidifier on Outcome

Introduction The weaning procedure of mechanical ventilation in many patients is a difficult and long process and increases the time of mechanical ventilation. There are numerous ways to achieve this goal. One common way is using Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilator. Considering the lower price of Blender-Humidifier compared to CPAP of ventilator and the limited number of studies in this field, this study was aimed to compare these two procedures. Materials and Methods 102 patients in Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) were allocated randomly in one group: CPAP-ventilator and Blender-Humidifier. Duration of hospital and PICU stay, the number of days of mechanichal ventilation, the frequency of re-intubation, and the mortality of the patients were recorded. Results The study was conducted on 66 male and 36 female patients (64.7% and 35.3% respectively). The average age was (22.5 ± 4.5) months. The most frequent complaint of the patients at the time of visit was coughing (35%), hyperventilation and respiratory distress (21.6%). Hospital stay was (23±14) and (20±12) days in humidifier and cpap groups respectively (p=0.52). PICU stay was (15± 11) and (20±11) days in humidifier and cpap groups respectively (p=0.18). Re- intubation rate was 16.2% and 33.5% in humidifier and cpap groups respectively (p=0.15). Mortality rate 8.4% and 21.5% in humidifier and cpap groups respectively (p=0.06). Conclusion Although there was no statistically significant difference between two groups, considering the differences in mortality rate, the need for re-intubation, rate of hospital and PICU stay, and at the same time, with easy availability and low prices, using Blender- Humidifier is recommended.