A score derived from ventilator settings may help clinicians predict the timing of ventilator liberation in patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. Of 372 patients, 72% were liberated from mechanical ventilation. The ventilator independence score measured on the day after tracheostomy placement had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of 0.71 (95% CI, 0.65–0.76) for differentiating patients who were liberated within the next 14 days from those who were not. Retrospective review of medical records of adults with tracheostomies treated at an academic medical center from 2011 to 2015.

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