One-year experience with an acute respiratory distress syndrome standard operating procedure on intensive care unit

Mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients remains unacceptable high, and there is substantial variation in the diagnostic and management strategies used. We recently established a standardized algorithm for the early identification and guideline conform therapy of ARDS on intensive care units (ICUs). We here present the results of a first-year observatory period after implementation of the ARDS bundle on our ICU.

A retrospective, observative, single-center case control study over a period of 4 years was performed. We analyzed the effects after implementation of an ARDS standard operating procedure (SOP) on prevalence of the diagnosis ARDS, mortality from ARDS, and therapy strategies. Implementation of the SOP led to an increased frequency of ARDS diagnosis (P < .05), increased application of early prone positioning (P < .05), and use of neuromuscular blockers (P < .02) in ARDS patients. An influence on mortality in ARDS patients could not be detected after implementation of the SOP (P = not significant).

A standardized ARDS bundle fundamentally increases awareness of this clinical picture on ICU and facilitates application of evidence-based therapies like prone positioning and use of neuromuscular blockers. These data encourage evaluating our ARDS SOP in a prospective trial to identify potential effects on mortality.