Ventilator strategies for posttraumatic acute respiratory distress syndrome: airway pressure release ventilation and the role of spontaneous breathing in critically ill patients.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Patients who experience severe trauma are at increased risk for the development of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The management strategies used to treat respiratory failure in this patient population should be comprehensive. Current trends in the management of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome consist of maintaining acceptable gas exchange while limiting ventilator-associated lung injury. RECENT FINDINGS Currently, two distinct forms of ventilator-associated lung injury are recognized to produce alveolar stress failure and have been termed low-volume lung injury (intratidal alveolar recruitment and derecruitment) and high-volume lung injury (alveolar stretch and overdistension). Pathologically, alveolar stress failure from low- and high-volume ventilation can produce lung injury in animal models and is termed ventilator-induced lung injury. The management goal in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome challenges clinicians to achieve the optimal balance that both limits the forms of alveolar stress failure and maintains effective gas exchange. The integration of new ventilator modes that include the augmentation of spontaneous breathing during mechanical ventilation may be beneficial and may improve the ability to attain these goals. SUMMARY Airway pressure release ventilation is a mode of mechanical ventilation that maintains lung volume to limit intra tidal recruitment /derecruitment and improves gas exchange while limiting over distension. Clinical and experimental data demonstrate improvements in arterial oxygenation, ventilation-perfusion matching (less shunt and dead space ventilation), cardiac output, oxygen delivery, and lower airway pressures during airway pressure release ventilation. Mechanical ventilation with airway pressure release ventilation permits spontaneous breathing throughout the entire respiratory cycle, improves patient comfort, reduces the use of sedation, and may reduce ventilator days.