Protective Ventilation for Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

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Abstract
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) consists of the sudden development of diffuse lung injury in critically ill patients. Initial inflammation, edema, and atelectasis rapidly progress to fibrosis in many patients. The syndrome has been frustratingly resistant to treatment, and no specific therapy has proved beneficial. Although recent case series suggest some decrease in mortality over the past decade, the death rate remains about 40 percent.13 Recently, the view that new strategies of ventilator management might improve patient outcomes has gained currency.4 This view is based largely on an impressive body of data from studies in animals indicating that mechanical . . .