1-hour t-piece spontaneous breathing trial vs 1-hour zero pressure support spontaneous breathing trial and reintubation at day 7: A non-inferiority approach

Purpose: Physiological data suggest that T-piece and zero pressure support (PS0) ventilation both accurately reflect spontaneous breathing conditions after extubation. These two types of spontaneous breathing trials (SBTs) are used in our Intensive Care Unit to evaluate patients for extubation readiness and success but have rarely been compared in clinical studies.

Materials and methods: We performed a prospective observational study to confirm the hypothesis that 1-hour T-piece SBT and 1-h PS0 zero PEEP (ZEEP) SBT are associated with similar rates of reintubation at day 7 after extubation. A non-inferiority approach was used for sample size calculation.

Results: The cohort consisted of 529 subjects invasively ventilated for more than 24 h and extubated after successful 1-hour T-piece SBT (n = 303, 57%) or 1-h PS0 ZEEP SBT (n = 226, 43%). The reintubation rate at day 7 was 14.6% with PS0 ZEEP and 17.5% with T-piece (difference - 2.6% [95% confidence interval, -8.3% to 4.3%]; p = 0.40). The reasons for reintubation did not differ significantly when compared between patients with 1-h PS0 ZEEP SBT and patients with 1-hour T-piece SBT.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that successful 1-hour T-piece and 1-h PSO ZEEP SBTs are associated with similar reintubation rates at day 7.