Incidence of post-extubation dysphagia among critical care patients undergoing orotracheal intubation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Post-extubation dysphagia (PED) emerges as a frequent complication following endotracheal intubation within the intensive care unit (ICU). PED has been strongly linked to adverse outcomes, including aspiration, pneumonia, malnutrition, heightened mortality rates, and prolonged hospitalization, resulting in escalated healthcare expenditures. Nevertheless, the reported incidence of PED varies substantially across the existing body of literature. Therefore, the principal objective of this review was to provide a comprehensive estimate of PED incidence in ICU patients undergoing orotracheal intubation. METHODS: We searched Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, China Science, Technology Journal Database (VIP), and SinoMed databases from inception to August 2023. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted data. Subsequently, a random-effects model was employed for meta-statistical analysis utilizing the "meta prop" command within Stata SE version 15.0 to ascertain the incidence of PED. In addition, we performed subgroup analyses and meta-regression to elucidate potential sources of heterogeneity among the included studies. RESULTS: Of 4144 studies, 30 studies were included in this review. The overall pooled incidence of PED was 36% (95% confidence interval [CI] 29-44%). Subgroup analyses unveiled that the pooled incidence of PED, stratified by assessment time (≤ 3 h, 4-6 h, ≤ 24 h, and ≤ 48 h), was as follows: 31.0% (95% CI 8.0-59.0%), 28% (95% CI 22.0-35.0%), 41% (95% CI 33.0-49.0%), and 49.0% (95% CI 34.0-63.0%), respectively. When sample size was 100 < N ≤ 300, the PED incidence was more close to the overall PED incidence. Meta-regression analysis highlighted that sample size, assessment time and mean intubation time constituted the source of heterogeneity among the included studies. CONCLUSION: The incidence of PED was high among ICU patients who underwent orotracheal intubation. ICU professionals should raise awareness about PED. In the meantime, it is important to develop guidelines or consensus on the most appropriate PED assessment time and assessment tools to accurately assess the incidence of PED.