EXtubation related complications - an international observational study To Understand the impact and BEst practices in the operating room and intensive care unit

Each year, over 200 million people are extubated following general anesthesia or critical illnesses.

While routinely performed, extubation is a delicate and high-risk procedure. Extubation does not go smoothly in 10-30% of cases. When extubation does not go smoothly, oxygen delivery to the brain and body can be interrupted, sometimes leading to complications like cardiac arrest, brain damage, or death.

Despite the frequency of extubation and the potential for life-altering complications, we lack systematic data on the rate and circumstances under which these complications occur.

EXTUBE is the first systematic, large, international study of extubation complications. EXTUBE will examine data from 3,000 patients from over 60 hospitals around the world to examine how extubation is performed, how often extubation causes different types of complications, and what factors cause these complications.

Study Overview

Which hospitals are eligible?

Any centre that performs extubations in the ICU or in the context of general anesthesia
Including academic and non-academic hospitals
Including centres worldwide

Which patients are eligible?

All consecutive adult patients undergoing extubation during the study period
Including extubations occurring in the ORs, out-of-OR anesthesia locations and ICUs

When is the study running?

Each centre will be assigned a 2-week enrollment window during which they will collect data on all eligible patients.

What is involved?

Each centre will

Obtain research ethics approval, if necessary
Complete training
Collect data on every eligible patient during the 2-week enrollment window including:
- Patient characteristics
- Extubation details
- Outcomes in the 60 minutes following extubation
- Morbidity and mortality up to 7 days after extubation