Impact of a multidisciplinary checklist on the duration of invasive mechanical ventilation and length of ICU stay

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact that implementing a checklist during daily multidisciplinary rounds has on the duration of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and length of ICU stay. METHODS: This was a non-randomized clinical trial in which the pre-intervention and post-intervention duration of IMV and length of ICU stay were evaluated in a total of 466 patients, including historical controls, treated in three ICUs of a hospital in the city of Caxias do Sul, Brazil. We evaluated 235 and 231 patients in the pre-intervention and post-intervention periods, respectively. The following variables were studied: age; gender; cause of hospitalization; diagnosis on admission; comorbidities; the Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3; the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score; days in the ICU; days on IMV; reintubation; readmission; in-hospital mortality; and ICU mortality. RESULTS: After the implementation of the checklist, the median (interquartile range) for days in the ICU and for days on IMV decreased from 8 (4-17) to 5 (3-11) and from 5 (1-12) to 2 (< 1-7), respectively, and the differences were significant (p ≤ 0.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of the checklist during daily multidisciplinary rounds was associated with a reduction in the duration of IMV and length of ICU stay among the patients in our sample.