Feasibility of Setting the Tidal Volume Based on End-Expiratory Lung Volume: A Pilot Clinical Study

To assess the feasibility of setting the tidal volume (TV) as 25% of the actual aerated lung volume (rather than on ideal body weight) in patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

Physiologic prospective single-center pilot study.

Medical ICU specialized in the care of patients with ARDS.

Patients with moderate-severe ARDS deeply sedated or paralyzed, undergoing controlled mechanical ventilation with a ventilator able to measure the end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) with a washin, washout technique.

Three-phase study (baseline, strain-selected TV setting, ventilation with strain-selected TV for 24 hr). The TV was calculated as 25% of the measured EELV minus the static strain due to the applied positive end-expiratory pressure.

Gas exchanges and respiratory mechanics were measured and compared in each phase. In addition, during the TV setting phase, driving pressure (DP) and lung strain (TV/EELV) were measured at different TVs to assess the correlation between the two measurements. The maintenance of the set strain-selected TV for 24 hours was safe and feasible in 76% of the patients enrolled. Three patients dropped out from the study because of the need to set a respiratory rate higher than 35 breaths per minute to avoid respiratory acidosis. The DP of the respiratory system was a satisfactory surrogate for strain in this population.

In our population of 17 patients with moderate to severe ARDS, setting TV based on the actual lung size was feasible. DP was a reliable surrogate of strain in these patients, and DP less than or equal to 8 cm H₂O corresponded to a strain less than 0.25.