Iran Journal of Nursing

  Background & Aim: Mechanical ventilation after open-heart surgery is one of the essential practices in patients. Awareness about some variables which are associated with extubation time is necessary for decision making about the appropriate time for this procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine whether sex, age and postoperative homodynamic status are associated with extubation time after Coronary Artery Bipass Graft (CABG).

  Material & Method: The research was conducted in a university-affiliated hospital in Tehran. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected by reviewing of 93 records of eligible patients by convenience sampling method. Data collecting tool was a checklist and data analyzed by chi-square and regression analysis.

  Results: Fourty three percent of patients were extubated in 6 hours or less and 57% of them were extubated in more than 6 hours after surgery. The mean of intubation time was 7.19±3.00 hours, with a range of 3.00-18.25 hours. Age was the only variable that was found to be statistically significant to extubation time (P<0.05).

  Conclusion: According to the findings, age is associated with intubation time after CABG. Therefore, nurses should take into the account this factor to make decision regarding the time of extubation in older patients.