ArticleJournal of intensive care2023
Prolonged use of neuromuscular blocking agents is associated with increased long-term mortality in mechanically ventilated medical ICU patients: a retrospective cohort study.
Article in Journal of intensive care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Patterns of Rocuronium and Cisatracurium Use in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Neuromuscular blockade and their monitoring in the intensive care unit: a multicenter observational prospective study.Annals of intensive care · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNeuromuscular blockade agents (NMBAs) can be used to facilitate mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients. Accumulating evidence has shown that NMBAs may be associated with intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired weakness and poor outcomes. However, the long-term impact of NMBAs on mortality is still unclear.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis using the 2015-2019 critical care databases at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, a referral center in central Taiwan, as well as the Taiwan nationwide death registry profile.
resultsA total of 5709 ventilated patients were eligible for further analysis, with 63.8% of them were male. The mean age of enrolled subjects was 67.8 ± 15.8 years, and the one-year mortality was 48.3% (2755/5709). Compared with the survivors, the non-survivors had a higher age (70.4 ± 14.9 vs 65.4 ± 16.3, p < 0.001), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score (28.0 ± 6.2 vs 24.7 ± 6.5, p < 0.001), a longer duration of ventilator use (12.6 ± 10.6 days vs 7.8 ± 8.5 days, p < 0.001), and were more likely to receive NMBAs for longer than 48 h (11.1% vs 7.8%, p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, and relevant covariates, the use of NMBAs for longer than 48 h was found to be independently associated with an increased risk of mortality (adjusted HR: 1.261; 95% CI: 1.07-1.486). The analysis of effect modification revealed that this association was tended to be strong in patients with a Charlson Comorbidity Index of 3 or higher.
conclusionsOur study demonstrated that prolonged use of NMBAs was associated with an increased risk of long-term mortality in critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Further studies are needed to validate our findings.
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