Background
Recovery of consciousness following interruption of analgosedation is a critical step during liberation from invasive mechanical ventilation. Although Structured Awakening Evaluations (SAEs) are increasingly incorporated into routine intensive care practice, emergence from analgosedation remains highly heterogeneous and poorly characterized. Existing weaning classifications primarily focus on the duration and outcome of ventilator liberation but do not adequately characterize the transitional phase between analgosedation interruption and recovery of consciousness, despite this being a prerequisite for meaningful participation in the weaning process.
Early emergence from analgosedation may determine a patient's ability to participate in spontaneous breathing trials, achieve successful liberation from mechanical ventilation, develop delirium, and ultimately recover after critical illness. However, the trajectories of emergence during the first days following the first valid SAE and their relationship with clinically relevant outcomes remain largely unknown.
Study Objectives
The primary objective of AWAKE-ICU is to characterize early trajectories of emergence from analgosedation during the first 72 hours following the first valid Structured Awakening Evaluation (SAE) in mechanically ventilated critically ill adults.
Secondary objectives are to evaluate the association between early emergence trajectories and clinically relevant outcomes, including spontaneous breathing trial performance, successful liberation from mechanical ventilation, duration of mechanical ventilation, ventilator-free days, delirium, tracheostomy, ICU and hospital length of stay, mortality, and long-term functional, cognitive, and health-related quality-of-life outcomes up to one year.
Study Design
AWAKE-ICU is a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study conducted in adult intensive care units. Consecutive eligible patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation will undergo standardized serial assessments during the first 72 hours following their first valid SAE. Emergence from analgosedation will be evaluated using the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) together with the ability to follow standardized motor commands, allowing classification into predefined trajectories of consciousness recovery.
Participants will be followed throughout their ICU and hospital stay and subsequently at 90 days and 12 months after ICU admission. By providing the first standardized characterization of emergence from analgosedation after a Structured Awakening Evaluation, AWAKE-ICU aims to improve understanding of this critical transition and to generate evidence supporting more individualized approaches to ventilator liberation and recovery after critical illness.