Mean extubation times for EE and LE were 2.52 ± 1.49 hours and 16.52 ± 30.7 hours (P < 0.001), respectively.
23 Another retrospective study investigated patients with delayed extubation after brain tumour surgery and found that mean extubation times were significantly shorter after remifentanil/propofol than after fentanyl/midazolam, and that LOS in the ICU was significantly reduced.
Mean extubation times were significantly shorter after remifentanil/propofol (47 minutes) than after fentanyl/midazolam (481 minutes), and the length of stay in the ICU was significantly reduced (1.8 days versus 3.7 days).
Higgins and coworkers [ 30] reported that mean extubation times in postsurgical patients receiving propofol or midazolam supplemented with bolus doses of morphine were 4.3 hours and 3.5 hours, respectively.
The average extubation time was 153 min; 22% had hypertension and 2.8% were reintubated.
In contrast, in their comparison of a remifentanil-based versus a morphine-based regimen under similar conditions, Dahaba and coworkers [ 15] found that the mean duration of mechanical ventilation and extubation time were significantly shorter in the remifentanil group.
Clinical measures included time from the end of surgery to extubation (extubation time), age, height, weight, surgical time, mean indirect blood pressure during surgery, mean heart rate during surgery, mean end-tidal carbon dioxide during surgery (mETCO2), mean body temperature during surgery (mBT), and total amount of fentanyl.
Although no variable was found to have a significant effect on extubation time, the relationship between CPB and extubation may have been attributed to the low mean CPB time within the study (49.1 minutes).
