Do you ever employ the use of prolonged periods of pressure support ventilation as means of "weaning" in the management of patients with acute respiratory failure?

The evidence basis here would suggest no one mode is superior for weaning vs just putting patients on SBT.

However, as a practical matter, weaning a patient from the ventilator involves letting sedatives metabolize/wear off (propofol can take days to wash out after a week of use), and testing how they are progressing on the vent both in terms of mechanics and gas exchange. Some patients are perfectly happy (or adapt to) strict VC modes in which the ventilator controls flow and cycling (timing); ...