Tracheal gas insufflation is a useful adjunct in permissive hypercapnic management of acute respiratory distress syndrome.
BACKGROUND
Despite numerous advances in critical care, the mortality of postinjury acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains high. Recently, permissive hypercapnia (PHC) has been shown to be a viable alternative to traditional ventilator management in patients with ARDS. However, lowering tidal volume, as employed in PHC, below 5 cc/kg impinges upon anatomic dead space and precipitates a significant rise in PaCO2 The purpose of this study was to determine if continuous tracheal gas insufflation (cTGI) is a useful adjunct to PHC by lowering PaCO2, thus allowing adequate reduction in minute ventilation to achieve alveolar protection.


METHODS
Over a 5-year period, 68 trauma patients with ARDS were placed on permissive hypercapnia. Nine of these patients additionally received cTGI at 7 L/min. Arterial blood gas determinations and ventilatory parameters were examined immediately prior to the implementation of cTGI and after 6h.


RESULTS
The cTGI produced significant improvement in pH (7.25 +/- 0.03 to 7.33 +/- 0.03), PaCO2 (72 +/- 5 to 59 +/- 5 torr), tidal volume (7.9 +/- 0.6 to 7.2 +/- 0.6 cc/kg), and minute ventilation (13 +/- 1 to 11 +/- 1 L/min; P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Continuous TGI is a useful adjunct to permissive hypercapnia, allowing maintenance of an acceptable pH and PaCO2 while allowing further reduction in tidal volume and minute ventilation.
Barnett
C C
CC
Department of Surgery, Denver General Hospital, Colorado, USA.
Moore
F A
FA
Moore
E E
EE
Partrick
D A
DA
Goodman
J
J
Burch
J M
JM
Haenel
J B
JB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007327:Insufflation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014132:Trachea; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications
D002245:Carbon Dioxide