Voices of Patients' Relatives to Support Weaning From Mechanical Ventilation

Patients with severe brain injuries, such as ischemic stroke and intracranial hemorrhage, frequently require mechanical ventilation. Weaning of stroke patients is complicated by impaired consciousness and respiratory drive. Higher rates of weaning failure and delayed extubation (≥ 48h) lead to ventilator associated pneumonia, higher mortality and necessity of tracheostomy. Therefore, improving the weaning of stroke patients from mechanical ventilation is warranted to prevent ventilator-associated complications and eventually improve clinical outcomes. This single-center, randomized, clinical trial aims at demonstrating that voices of patients' relatives support weaning from mechanical ventilation and reduce weaning failure in brain-injured patients.