Quantification of asymmetric lung pathophysiology as a guide to the use of simultaneous independent lung ventilation in posttraumatic and septic adult respiratory distress syndrome

The management of impaired respiratory gas exchange in patients with nonuniform posttraumatic and septic adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) contains its own therapeutic paradox, since the need for volume-controlled ventilation and PEEP in the lung with the most reduced compliance increases pulmonary barotrauma to the better lung. A computer-based system has been developed by which respiratory pressure-flow-volume relations and gas exchange characteristics can be obtained and respiratory dynamic and static compliance curves computed and displayed for each lung, as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of ventilation therapy in ARDS. Using these techniques, eight patients with asymmetrical posttraumatic or septic ARDS, or both, have been managed using simultaneous independent lung ventilation (SILV). The computer assessment technique allows quantification of the nonuniform ARDS pattern between the two lungs. This enabled SILV to be utilized using two synchronized servo-ventilators at different pressure-flow-volumes, inspiratory/expiratory ratios, and PEEP settings to optimize the ventilatory volumes and gas exchange of each lung, without inducing excess barotrauma in the better lung. In the patients with nonuniform ARDS, conventional ventilation was not effective in reducing shunt (QS/QT) or in permitting a lower FIO2 to be used for maintenance of an acceptable PaO2. SILV reduced per cent v-a shunt and permitted a higher PaO2 at lower FIO2. Also, there was x-ray evidence of ARDS improvement in the poorer lung. While the ultimate outcome was largely dependent on the patient's injury and the adequacy of the septic host defense, by utilizing the SILV technique to match the quantitative aspects of respiratory dysfunction in each lung at specific times in the clinical course, it was possible to optimize gas exchange, to reduce barotrauma, and often to reverse apparently fixed ARDS changes. In some instances, this type of physiologically directed ventilatory therapy appeared to contribute to a successful recovery.