Are blood gases necessary in mechanically ventilated patients who have successfully completed a spontaneous breathing trial?

BACKGROUND The utility of routinely obtaining arterial blood gas analyses (ABGs) prior to extubation in patients who have successfully completed a spontaneous breathing trial is not known. OBJECTIVE Review our practices and determine our extubation success rate with a policy of selective ABG utilization. METHODS Retrospective chart review. RESULTS We reviewed 54 extubations of 52 patients. Sixty-five percent of the extubations were performed without obtaining an ABG after the spontaneous breathing trial. The extubation success rate was 94% for the entire group and was the same regardless of whether an ABG measurement was obtained (94.7% vs 94.3%, respectively). CONCLUSION ABG measurement does not appear to be a prerequisite to extubation following a clinically successful spontaneous breathing trial.