Integrated Pulmonary Index (IPI) as a Determinate of Weaning Success and/or Failure in the Pediatric Population

Integrated pulmonary index (IPI) is a tool that monitors respiratory status. It takes into account four parameters: respiratory rate, end-tidal CO2, heart rate and O2 saturation using a pulse oximeter and specialized sidestream CO2 monitor. The device can continuously monitor and display the patient's ventilatory state as a single digit, 1-10. In addition, trends can be kept and it can provide early indication of changes in respiratory status. IPI has only been studied in pediatric patients who are under sedation; however, more uses for the monitoring tool are a possibility. One of those possibilities is to use IPI to monitor pediatric patients during the weaning and extubation process to determine if a specific number, or less than a specific number, is associated with extubation failure. Therefore, clinicians and physicians would be better able to determine if the patient is ready for extubation.