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Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Lavage-induced Surfactant Depletion in Pigs As a Model of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
Published on: September 7, 2016
Bilateral lavage with diluted surfactant improves lung function after unilateral lung contusion in pigs
Wolfgang Strohmaier1, Arnold Trupka, Claudia Pfeiler
1Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Donaueschingenstrasse13, 1200 Vienna, Austria.
Objective:
This study evaluates the effects of bronchoalveolar lavage with diluted surfactant on unilateral lung contusion-induced lung dysfunction.
Design:
Randomized prospective animal study.
Setting:
An animal laboratory.
Subjects:
Twenty adult pigs, weighing 25-35 kg.
Interventions:
Animals were randomly assigned to controls and surfactant treatment. Bilateral lavage with surfactant treatment began 30 mins after unilateral lung contusion. Then 25 mg/kg of body weight diluted Curosurf (5 mg/mL) was applied in a volume of 5 mL/kg of body weight. Observation time was 8 hrs postinjury.
Measurements And Main Results:
The Pao2/Fio2 ratio fell from 500 to 250 and then recovered gradually in controls and surfactant-treated pigs. After another 4 hrs, the Pao2/Fio2 ratio deteriorated again in controls, but not in surfactant-treated animals. Total compliance fell by 50% after injury but was completely restored by surfactant treatment. Lung contusion increased the median number of neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 2% to 30% of total cells and peaked >60% at 480 mins in the contused lungs of control pigs. Surfactant-treated pigs had 40% neutrophils at 480 mins without reaching significant difference to controls. The leukocyte neutral proteinase inhibitor increased to 500 ng/mL at 30 mins postinjury in the contused lungs and increased to 2000 ng/mL after surfactant treatment.
Conclusions:
Bilateral bronchoalveolar lavage with diluted surfactant can effectively improve lung function after experimental unilateral lung contusion in pigs.
