The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an important cause of acute respiratory failure that is often associated with multiple organ failure. Several clinical disorders can precipitate ARDS, including pneumonia, sepsis, aspiration of gastric contents, and major trauma. Physiologically, ARDS is characterized by increased permeability pulmonary edema, severe arterial hypoxemia, and impa...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common and devastating condition which can affect all adult patients eg, medical, surgical and obstetric patients. It occurs when non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema (secondary to acute damage to the alveoli) leads to acute respiratory failure. Although the terms ARDS and ALI are used interchangeably, the American-European Consensus Conference Commit...