Pharyngeal Electrical Stimulation (PES) to Avoid Extubation Failure in Intubated Stroke at High Risk of Severe Dysphagia

Endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation are common procedures for critically ill stroke patients. Although necessary and life-saving, timely extubation after ventilator weaning is desirable, because patients with delayed extubation experience higher pneumonia rate, increased need for tracheostomy, longer length of stay on the intensive care unit and higher mortality. On the other hand, extubation failure (EF) and subsequent need for emergent re-intubation is associated with similar sequelae. Post-extubation dysphagia (PED) became a growing concern as a major risk factor for EF and significant contributor to poor patient outcomes with prevalence rates ranging from 12% to 69%, being highest in neurological patients (93%). Damage to the central swallowing network itself is the primary cause of PED in cerebrovascular disease, which constitutes the leading diagnosis on neuro-ICUs. Further mechanisms include pharyngolaryngeal lesions caused by the tube, critical illness neuropathy and myopathy leading to muscle weakness and dyscoordination of breathing and swallowing, and an impaired sensation due to sedation, mucosal damage, or the underlying critical illness itself. As a consequence reintubation rates in neurological collectives are as high as 20 to 40%. Pharyngeal electrical stimulation (PES) has been shown to improve airway safety and swallowing function tracheostomized stroke patients, thereby enhancing decannulation in this patient cohort. In the present study the investigators evaluate whether PES is safe, feasible and effective in orotracheal intubated stroke patients at high risk of extubation failure.