Electrical impedance tomography monitoring during spontaneous breathing trial: Physiological description and potential clinical utility

Background Readiness for mechanical ventilation (MecV) weaning and extubation is usually assessed clinically with the use of a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT), but its accuracy is limited, and the pathophysiology of weaning failure not completely elucidated. The purpose of the present study was to describe the physiological behavior of electrical impedance tomography parameters during SBT and to propose additional variables that could be helpful in defining weaning/extubation outcome. Methods From December 2015 to January 2017, all subjects who remained under MecV with an orotracheal tube for more than 24 hours and who were submitted to SBT both in pressure‐support ventilation (PSV) or T‐tube were included in the study. Both clinical and impedance parameters were collected immediately before as well as during SBT. Results Forty‐two subjects were included in the final analysis. For subjects submitted to SBT in PSV, none of the impedance parameters added significant information regarding weaning outcomes. For subjects submitted to a T‐tube SBT, a significant and progressive decrease in end‐expiratory lung impedance (dEELI) was observed, which was more prominent in subjects who clinically failed the SBT. These subjects had a significant rapid shallow breathing index at the end of SBT. Conclusions dEELI was a potentially useful parameter in the evaluation of MecV weaning outcome when abrupt lung depressurization was induced during SBT in our study. The degree of dEELI decrease was probably related to the magnitude of lung derecruitment, which seems to play a key role in the MecV weaning outcome.