This article was originally posted on the Jesus College website.
Patients with acute brain injury often require ventilator support in intensive care (ICU) units. Timely liberation from ventilators can significantly reduce morbidity, mortality, ICU stay, and hospital costs. However, approximately 20% of patients struggle with ventilator liberation. Arun’s project aims to set the groundwork for a longer term initiative to inform and influence policy in relation to ventilator management, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for such patients.
The project will focus on creating a protocol for an expert consensus document, initially targeted at clinicians who manage these critically-ill patients. By establishing clear guidelines, and improving clinical decision-making, the project aims to boost confidence across various intensive care units. It will also help to establish strong collaboration between the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN) at the University of Oxford, where Arun is a researcher, and the Neuroscience Intensive Care Section of European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). In addition, he hopes the project will foster more policy collaborations in the future.
Arun joined Jesus College in 2020, and his DPhil research focuses on weaning and extubation in neurocrititcal care. He founded an international group on the topic, comprising 135 members globally, and has hosted nine interdisciplinary webinars to raise awareness and share knowledge around the challenges of getting patients safely off ventilators following severe brain injuries or neurosurgery. For more information, visit the Ventilator Weaning and Extubation in Neurocritical Care Network page. If you are interested in joining the network, please contact Arun at arun.joseph@ndcn.ox.ac.uk.