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Updated: Aug 23, 2025

Surfactant Depletion Combined with Injurious Ventilation Results in a Reproducible Model of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ARDS
Published on: April 7, 2021
Intermediate tidal volume is an acceptable option for ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome
S-H Wu1,2, C-T Kor3,4, C-Y Li5
1Division of Critical Care Internal Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
Objective:
Evidence only proves low surpasses high tidal volume (V T) for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Intermediate V T is a common setting for ARDS patients and has been demonstrated as effective as low V T in non-ARDS patients. The effectiveness of intermediate V T in ARDS has not been studied and is the objective of this study.
Design:
A retrospective cohort study.
Setting:
Five ICUs with their totally 130 beds in Taiwan.
Patients Or Participants:
ARDS patients under invasive ventilation.
Interventions:
No.
Main Variables Of Interest:
28-D mortality.
Result:
Totally 382 patients, with 6958 ventilator settings eligible for lung protection, were classified into low (mean V T = 6.7 ml/kg), intermediate (mean V T = 8.9 ml/kg) and high (mean V T = 11.2 ml/kg) V T groups. With similar baseline ARDS and ICU severities, intermediate and low V T groups did not differ in 28-D mortality (47% vs. 63%, P = 0.06) or other outcomes such as 90-D mortality, ventilator-free days, ventilator-dependence rate. Multivariate analysis revealed high V T was independently associated with 28-D and 90-D mortality, but intermediate V T was not significantly associated with 28-D mortality (HR 1.34, CI 0.92-1.97, P = 0.13) or 90-D mortality. When the intermediate and low V T groups were matched in propensity scores (n = 66 for each group), their outcomes were also not significantly different.
Conclusion:
Intermediate V T, with its outcomes similar to small V T, is an acceptable option for ventilated ARDS patients. This conclusion needs verification through clinical trials.
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