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This study considered the factors associated with prolonged ventilation and the effects of reduced extubation times on patient recovery, intensive care unit stay, and overall hospital stay.A retrospective study was performed, including 86 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac surgery from August 2006 to January 2007. The patients were divided into two groups following intensive care unit admission: Group A, duration of intubation4 h (n=34); Group B, duration of intubation4 h (n=52).Two deaths occurred in 86 patients, and overall hospital mortality was 2.32%. Patients in Group A were younger (33.2+/-12 versus 45.8+/-13 years; p=0.001) and had better preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (62.4+/-9.8 versus 44.6+/-9.4; p=0.003) than those in Group B. Moreover, Group A patients had a shorter intensive care unit length of stay (1.7+/-0.5 versus 2.2+/-0.8 days; p=0.006) and were discharged earlier than Group B patients (2.7+/-2.4 versus 4.01+/-3.96; p=0.014).Early extubation offers a substantial advantage in terms of accelerated recovery, shorter intensive care unit, and hospital stay, suggesting that efforts to reduce extubation times are cost-effective.