A comparison of three alveolar recruitment maneuver approaches in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome

To evaluate three alveolar recruitment maneuvers (ARM) in patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Twenty-four patients randomized in three similar groups were evaluated. Each group received one kind of ARM. Group 1: progressive levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) with a fixed pressure control (PC). The PC was kept at 15 cmH 2 O and the PEEP levels were increased every 2 minutes: 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 cmH 2 O. Group 2: progressive levels of PC with a fixed PEEP level. The PEEP level was kept at 15 cmH 2 O and the PC levels were increased every 2 minutes: 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 cmH 2 O. Group 3: progressive levels of PC with a fixed PEEP level plus progressive levels of PEEP with a fixed PC level. Initially, the PEEP level was kept at 15 cmH 2 O and the PC levels were increased every 1 minute: 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 cmH 2 O. Immediately after, the PC was kept at 15 cmH 2 O and the PEEP levels were increased every 1 minute: 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 cmH 2 O. The PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio, Cst, rs and PaCO 2 were evaluated before and after 1 hour of the ARM in each group alone and were later compared among the three groups by the Wilcoxon test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. The ventilator used was the Bennet 840. The PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio improved significantly in the three groups after the ARM. There are no statistical differences in Cst, rs and PaCO 2 after the ARM in the three groups. The initial PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio was: Group 1 (138.75), Group 2 (143.75) and Group 3 (131.12). When compared among the three groups, the PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio in Group 3 presented a significant improvement in comparison with Group 1 and Group 2: 257.87 vs 195.25 ( P < 0.05) and 257.87 vs 194.75 ( P = 0.02), respectively. According to the PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio, there are no differences between Group 1 and Group 2 (195.25 vs 194.75; P = 0.878). ARM was effective in improving the PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio in the three groups. The three ARM were similar in improving the Cst, rs and PaCO 2 . In our study, the ARM showed better results according to the PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio when performed initially with progressive levels of PC and later with progressive levels of PEEP in comparison with the other two approaches.