Critical events leading to endotracheal reintubation in the postanesthesia care unit: A retrospective inquiry of contributory factors

The tracheal reintubation of a surgical patient in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) is a critical event that increases patient morbidity and mortality, cost, and staff demands. We performed a descriptive retrospective cohort study to identify the incidence of reintubation after planned extubation (RAP) in the PACU from 2010 to 2017. The incidence of RAP was 0.00083% (89/107,845) for the entire study period, an incidence range from 0.00014% to 0.00172% (1/7,407 to 26/15,139) with a steady decline from 2011 to 2017. A post hoc application of published prediction tools demonstrated that most RAP cases could be predicted preoperatively when the RAP predictive risk index (described in 2013) was applied to patients over the age of 64 years. Preoperative attention to increased risk of RAP decreases the incidence of RAP. Neuromuscular blockade (NMB) must be monitored, and reversal must be ensured. Attempting to reverse moderate to deep NMB with increased dosing of neostigmine should be avoided, and NMB reversal with sugammadex should be used in these cases and when residual weakness is observed. Hypothermia must be avoided, and a multimodal pain management regimen must be adopted.