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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Employing the Forced Oscillation Technique for the Assessment of Respiratory Mechanics in Adults
Published on: February 9, 2022
Is it time to increase the frequency of use of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation?
Jeffrey M Singh1, Niall D Ferguson
1Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, and Department of Medicine, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
In this issue of Critical Care, Bollen and colleagues present the results of a multicentre randomised controlled trial, comparing high-frequency oscillatory ventilation with conventional ventilation as the primary ventilation mode for adults with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The study was stopped early after recruiting only 61 patients because of declining enrolment, and although no differences were detected in any primary or secondary endpoint, this trial only had sufficient power to detect extreme differences in outcomes between groups. This editorial attempts to put these results in context with previous work and highlights challenges to be addressed in future studies.
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