Recruitment Maneuver Does not Increase the Risk of Ventilator Induced Lung Injury.

BACKGROUND Mechanical ventilation (MV) may induce lung injury. AIMS To assess and evaluate the role of different mechanical ventilation strategies on ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) in comparison to a strategy which includes recruitment manoeuvre (RM). STUDY DESIGN Randomized animal experiment. METHODS Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were anaesthetised, tracheostomised and divided into 5 groups randomly according to driving pressures; these were mechanically ventilated with following peak alveolar opening (Pao) and positive end-expiratory pressures (PEEP) for 1 hour: Group 15-0: 15 cmH2O Pao and 0 cmH2O PEEP; Group 30-10: 30 cmH2O Pao and 10 cmH2O PEEP; Group 30-5: 30 cmH2O Pao and 5 cmH2O PEEP; Group 30-5&RM: 30 cmH2O Pao and 5 cmH2O PEEP with additional 45 cmH2O CPAP for 30 seconds in every 15 minutes; Group 45-0: 45 cmH2O Pao and 0 cmH2O PEEP Before rats were sacrificed, blood samples were obtained for the evaluation of cytokine and chemokine levels; then, the lungs were subsequently processed for morphologic evaluation. RESULTS Oxygenation results were similar in all groups; however, the groups were lined as follows according to the increasing severity of morphometric evaluation parameters: Group 15-0: (0±0.009) < Group 30-10: (0±0.14) < Group 30-5&RM: (1±0.12) < Group 30-5: (1±0.16) < Group 45-0: (2±0.16). Besides, inflammatory responses were the lowest in 30-5&RM group compared to all other groups. TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, MCP-1 levels were significantly different between group 30-5&RM and group 15-0 vs. group 45-0 in each group. CONCLUSION RM with low PEEP reduces the risk of ventilator-induced lung injury with a lower release of systemic inflammatory mediators in response to mechanical ventilation.