Extubation Failure in Infants with Modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt: The Incidence, Predictors, and Outcomes

Objectives: Infants with congenital heart diseases often require mechanical ventilation and a prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) stay due to complex cardiopulmonary complications. The primary objective of the study was to determine the incidence and predictors of tracheal extubation failure in infants undergoing modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (MBTS). The secondary objective was to evaluate if extubation failure was associated with increased mortality and longer ICU and hospital stays. Design: Single-center, retrospective, cohort study. Setting: Tertiary center pediatric cardiac ICU. Participants: Infants who underwent MBTS between January 2010 and December 2019. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: The demographic data and details related to the preoperative, intraoperative, and pretracheal extubation clinical conditions in the ICU were compared between the 2 study arms. Statistically significant predictors were analyzed using multivariate analysis. The p value was based on the Student's -t test for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables. A total of 146 infants were recruited for the study. Extubation failure occurred in 27 infants (18.5%), resulting in longer ICU and hospital stays. Extubation failure was deemed to be positively associated with preoperative mechanical ventilation duration, the need for escalation of the inotropic score, diaphragmatic paralysis, and systolic blood pressure ≤50th percentile at the time of extubation. Conclusions: The incidence rate of extubation failure after placement of MBTS was 18.5%. Preoperative mechanical ventilation, diaphragmatic paralysis, the need for escalation of the inotropic score, and systolic blood pressure ≤50th percentile could be considered predictors of extubation failure in these infants.