The acute respiratory distress syndrome is a common, devastating clinical syndrome of acute lung injury that affects both medical and surgical patients. Since the last review of this syndrome appeared in the Journal, 1 more uniform definitions have been devised and important advances have occurred in the understanding of the epidemiology, natural history, and pathogenesis of the disease, leading to the design and testing of new treatment strategies. This article provides an overview of the definitions, clinical features, and epidemiology of the acute respiratory distress syndrome and discusses advances in the areas of pathogenesis, resolution, and treatment. Historical Perspective and Definitions . . .

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The acute respiratory distress syndrome

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(09)61069-2.pdf

Efficacy and economic assessment of conventional ventilatory support versus extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for severe adult respiratory failure (CESAR): a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Ventilator-induced Lung Injury: Not Only Air Leaks Ventilation-induced Pulmonary Edema and Related Findings: A Historical Perspective Ventilation-induced Pulmonary Edema: Hydrostatic or Permeability Edema? Experimental Evidence for Increased Vascular Transmural Pressure Evidence for Alterations in Alveolar–Capillary Permeability Contributions of the Static and Dynamic Lung Volume Components to Ventilator-induced Edema High-volume Lung Edema Low Lung Volume Injury Effects of High-volume Ventilation on Abnormal Lungs Effects of High-volume Ventilation on Injured Lungs Interaction between Severe Alveolar Flooding and Mechanical Ventilation Effects of Resting the Lung on Ventilator-induced Lung Injury Possible Mechanisms of Ventilation-induced Lung Injury Mechanisms of Increased Vascular Transmural Pressure Mechanisms of Altered Permeability Clinical Relevance

Ventilator-induced lung injury: lessons from experimental studies.

Background: This document provides evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on the use of mechanical ventilation in adult patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Methods: A multidisciplinary panel conducted systematic reviews and metaanalyses of the relevant research and applied Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology for clinical recommendations.Results: For all patients with ARDS, the recommendation is strong for mechanical ventilation using lower tidal volumes (4–8 ml/kg predicted body weight) and lower inspiratory pressures (plateau pressure < 30 cm H2O) (moderate confidence in effect estimates). For patients with severe ARDS, the recommendation is strong for prone positioning for more than 12 h/d (moderate confidence in effect estimates). For patients with moderate or severe ARDS, the recommendation is strong against routine use of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (high confidence in effect estimates) and conditional for higher positiv...

An Official American Thoracic Society/European Society of Intensive Care Medicine/Society of Critical Care Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline: Mechanical Ventilation in Adult Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Background A strategy of mechanical ventilation that limits airway pressure and tidal volume while permitting hypercapnia has been recommended for patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome. The goal is to reduce lung injury due to overdistention. However, the efficacy of this approach has not been established. Methods Within 24 hours of intubation, patients at high risk for the acute respiratory distress syndrome were randomly assigned to either pressure- and volume-limited ventilation (limited-ventilation group), with the peak inspiratory pressure maintained at 30 cm of water or less and the tidal volume at 8 ml per kilogram of body weight or less, or to conventional ventilation (control group), with the peak inspiratory pressure allowed to rise as high as 50 cm of water and the tidal volume at 10 to 15 ml per kilogram. All other ventilatory variables were similar in the two groups. Results A total of 120 patients with similar clinical features underwent randomization (60 in each group). The ...

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199802053380603

Evaluation of a ventilation strategy to prevent barotrauma in patients at high risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Pressure- and Volume-Limited Ventilation Strategy Group.

The impact of a new therapy that includes pressure-controlled inverse ratio ventilation followed by extracorporeal CO2 removal on the survival of patients with severe ARDS was evaluated in a randomized controlled clinical trial. Computerized protocols generated around-the-clock instructions for management of arterial oxygenation to assure equivalent intensity of care for patients randomized to the new therapy limb and those randomized to the control, mechanical ventilation limb. We randomized 40 patients with severe ARDS who met the ECMO entry criteria. The main outcome measure was survival at 30 days after randomization. Survival was not significantly different in the 19 mechanical ventilation (42%) and 21 new therapy (extracorporeal) (33%) patients (p = 0.8). All deaths occurred within 30 days of randomization. Overall patient survival was 38% (15 of 40) and was about four times that expected from historical data (p = 0.0002). Extracorporeal treatment group survival was not significantly different from other published survival rates after extracorporeal CO2 removal. Mechanical ventilation patient group survival was significantly higher than the 12% derived from published data (p = 0.0001). Protocols controlled care 86% of the time. Average PaO2 was 59 mm Hg in both treatment groups. Intensity of care required to maintain arterial oxygenation was similar in both groups (2.6 and 2.6 PEEP changes/day; 4.3 and 5.0 FIO2 changes/day). We conclude that there was no significant difference in survival between the mechanical ventilation and the extracorporeal CO2 removal groups. We do not recommend extracorporeal support as a therapy for ARDS. Extracorporeal support for ARDS should be restricted to controlled clinical trials.

Randomized clinical trial of pressure-controlled inverse ratio ventilation and extracorporeal CO2 removal for adult respiratory distress syndrome.

The impact of a new therapy that includes pressure-controlled inverse ratio ventilation followed by extracorporeal CO 2 removal on the survival of patients with severe ARDS was evaluated in a randomized controlled clinical trial. Computerized protocols generated around-the-clock instructions for management of arterial oxygenation to assure equivalent intensity of care for patients randomized to the new therapy limb and those randomized to the control, mechanical ventilation limb. We randomized 40 patients with severe ARDS who met the ECMO entry criteria. The main outcome measure was survival at 30 days after randomization

M. Bombino

Papers

Randomized clinical trial of pressure-controlled inverse ratio ventilation and extracorporeal CO2 removal for adult respiratory distress syndrome.

Randomized clinical trial of pressure-controlled inverse ratio ventilation and extracorporeal CO2 removal for adult respiratory distress syndrome