Weaning from long-term mechanical ventilation utilizing closed-loop ventilation mode (IntelliVent(®)-ASV(®)) in a patient with spinal cord injury

INTRODUCTION: Cervical spinal cord injury with the C3 neurological level may cause respiratory failure and require long-term mechanical ventilation. Conventional weaning of spontaneous breathing trials is difficult to perform outside of intensive care or spinal cord units. CASE PRESENTATION: An 80-year-old man presented with total tetraplegia and restrictive respiratory failure that required assisted ventilation after a falling accident. Cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging showed cervical cord compression that was worst at the C3–C4 intervertebral level. He experienced unexpected cardiac arrest during the conventional weaning process of trials of intermittent spontaneous breathing in the intensive care unit. The automated weaning protocol utilizing a closed-loop ventilation mode (IntelliVent(®)-ASV(®)) was introduced 131 days after injury in our ward for chronically ill patients. The patient was successfully weaned 39 days after the introduction of the weaning protocol. DISCUSSION: An automated weaning protocol utilizing a closed-loop ventilation mode could be an optional procedure in patients with cervical cord injury on long-term mechanical ventilation, even in a ward for chronically ill patients where sufficient staff is not available. The efficacy and safety, and the cost-effectiveness of the procedure should be examined in larger spinal cord units.