title: Lung volume maintenance prevents lung injury during high frequency oscillatory ventilation in surfactant-deficient rabbits.
abstract: Controversy exists whether high frequency oscillatory ventilation with an active expiratory phase (HFO-A) should be used at low ventilator pressures or high alveolar volumes to minimize lung injury in the atelectasis-prone lung. We therefore ventilated 20 anesthetized, tracheostomized rabbits made surfactant-deficient by lung lavage in 1 of 3 ways: HFO-A at a high lung volume (HFO-A/HI), HFO-A at a low lung volume (HFO-A/LO), or conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV); all received 100% oxygen for 7 h. We examined oxygenation, lung mechanics, and lung pathology. Arterial oxygenation in the HFO-A/HI rabbits was kept greater than 350 mm Hg. Mean lung volume above FRC in these animals was 23.4 ml/kg. In rabbits ventilated with HFO-A/LO and CMV, arterial oxygen tensions were 70 to 100 mm Hg. Mean lung volumes were 7.8 and 4.3 ml/kg, respectively. Total respiratory system pressure-volume curves (P-V curves) showed no change from baseline in the HFO-A/HI group after 7 h of ventilation. The low lung volume groups (HFO-A/LO and CMV) showed a diminution in hysteresis of their P-V curves, lower total respiratory system compliance, more hyaline membranes and severe airway epithelial damage. (All changes significant with p less than 0.05). We conclude that maintenance of alveolar volume is a key mechanism in the prevention of lung injury during mechanical ventilation of the atelectasis-prone lung. For optimal outcome using high frequency oscillatory ventilation, alveoli must be actively reexpanded and then kept expanded using appropriate mean airway pressures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: McCulloch
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Forkert
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Froese
mesh_terms: D000403:Airway Resistance; D000818:Animals; D006612:High-Frequency Ventilation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D001261:Pulmonary Atelectasis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D010100:Oxygen