A new study of intensive care unit patients who are breathing with the help of a mechanical ventilator has found that a two-step sedation and ventilator weaning protocol - called a 'wake up and breathe' strategy - helps patients come off the ventilator faster so that they can be discharged from the ICU and hospital more quickly. The study was presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference in San Francisco.

"On average, patients managed with the intervention spent four more days alive and out of the ICU and out of the hospital than those managed in the control group," explained senior author Wes Ely, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University and Associate Director of the Geriatric Research Education and Clinic Center.

In the first step of the protocol, the patient's sedation is turned off, also known as a 'spontaneous awakening trial.' "Almost all patients…