Learning Objective #1: The learner will be able to identify the influential factors of successful extubation.

Learning Objective #2: The learner will be able to identify the predictors of successful extubation.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the influential factors related to successful extubation and the predictors of successful extubation in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients with mechanical ventilators. A prospective design was used. One hundred and twenty-four intubated patients after surgery were collected from the SICU of a medical center in Northern Taiwan. A questionnaire containing demographics and disease characteristics, VentCheck^TM, Evita ventilator and HP physiological monitoring machine were used to collect data. Data was analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, rank, Chi-square test, indepedent-samples T-test and stepwise logistic regression using SPSS 13.0 software package. P<0.05 was considered as the statistically significant level. The result of this study were as follows: of 124 intubated patients, 107 were successful extubation, and 17 were extubation failure (reintubation within 72 hours after planned extubation). The successful extubation patients had significantly lower APACHE II score (p=0.04), shorter duration of mechanical ventilator (p=0.02), and less time in the SICU (p<0.001) compared to the extubation failure patients. In the inventory of evaluative extubation of patients in the SICU, the Chi-square test or independent-samples T test showed that  the significant variables included whether consciousness is alert, respiratory rate, rapid shallow breathing index(RSBI) and PaO₂/FiO₂. The results of stepwise logistic regression showed that the significant predictors of successful extubation were duration of mechanical ventilation, PaO₂/FiO₂, whether consciousness is alert and tidal volume. In conclusion, the results of this study will be a useful approach to guiding the extubation of patients with mechanical ventilators in the SICU.