Adaptive support ventilation attenuates postpneumonectomy acute lung injury in a porcine model

An optimal ventilation strategy that causes as little mechanical stress and inflammation as possible is critical for patients undergoing pneumonectomy. The aim of this study was to determine whether adaptive support ventilation (ASV) can provide protective ventilation to the remaining lung after pneumonectomy with minimal mechanical stress and less inflammation than volume-control ventilation (VCV).

In this study, 15 pigs were randomly allocated to 3 groups (n = 5 for each group): the control group, the VCV group and the ASV group. After left pneumonectomy, the VCV group was treated with the volume-control set to 20 ml/kg, and the ASV group with the mode set to achieve 60% of the minute ventilation of 2 lungs.

The ASV group had lower alveolar strain than the VCV group. The ASV group exhibited less lung injury and greater alveolar fluid clearance than the VCV group (13.3% vs -17.8%; P ≤ 0.018). Ventilator-induced lung injury was associated with changes in the cytokine levels in the exhaled breath condensate, differential changes in plasma and changes in the cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Expression of 3 microRNAs (miR449b-3p, P ≤ 0.001; miR451-5p, P = 0.027; and miR144-5p, P = 0.008) was increased in the VCV group compared with the ASV group.

The ASV mode was capable of supporting rapid, shallow breathing patterns to exert lung-protective effects in a porcine postpneumonectomy model. Further investigation of microRNAs as biomarkers of ventilator-induced lung injury is warranted.