Failure of non-sedation strategy in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients - a retrospective, post-hoc analysis of the NONSEDA trial

•Non-sedation during mechanical ventilation was successful in 57% of patient cases.•Patients with either non-sedation success or failure did not differ at baseline.•Patients with non-sedation success had better in-hospital outcomes.•Failure of non-sedation did not affect mortality or long-term outcomes.