Introduction: To systematically compare immediate postoperative tracheal extubation (IPTE) with conventional tracheal extubation (CTE) and to determine whether IPTE can achieve an enhanced recovery for adult patients underwent liver transplantation (LT) without additional risks. We designed a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods: The RCTs, cohorts, case-controls, or case series that explored outcomes of IPTE after LT for adults were involved in our study. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the risk of bias.
Results: A total of 15 studies (n = 4144) were included, consisting of 10 studies (retrospective cohorts; n = 3387) for quantitative synthesis and 5 studies (1 prospective cohort, and 4 case series; n = 757) for qualitative synthesis. The pooled estimates suggested IPTE could reduce time to discharge from ICU stay (TDICU) (mean difference [MD] -2.12 days, 95% confidence interval [CI] -3.04 to -1.19 days), time to discharge from the hospital (TDH) (MD -6.43 days, 95% CI -9.53 to -3.33 days), re-intubation rate (RI) (odds ratio [OR] 0.29, 95% CI 0.22-0.39), morbidity rate (MR) (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.08-0.30) and graft dysfunction rate (GD) (IPTE vs CTE: 0.3% vs 3.8%, P < .01), and had comparable ICU survival rate (ICUS) (OR 6.67 95% CI 1.34-33.35) when compared with CTE after LT.
Conclusions: IPTE can achieve an enhanced recovery for adult patients underwent LT without additional re-intubation, morbidity, and mortality risks. However, further work needs to be done to establish the extent definitively through carefully designed and conducted RCTs.