A Multidisciplinary Protocol-Driven Approach to Improve Extubation Times After Cardiac Surgery

Chan and colleagues describe a stepwise approach to reducing the time to extubation after cardiac surgery, driven primarily by bedside providers as opposed to a conventional physician-directed approach. The authors demonstrate that this fast-track extubation protocol increased the rate of early extubation and decreased the median time to extubation without altering reintubation or early mortality rates.