title: Lung protective mechanical ventilation and two year survival in patients with acute lung injury: prospective cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association of volume limited and pressure limited (lung protective) mechanical ventilation with two year survival in patients with acute lung injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  13 intensive care units at four hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  485 consecutive mechanically ventilated patients with acute lung injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two year survival after onset of acute lung injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  485 patients contributed data for 6240 eligible ventilator settings, as measured twice daily (median of eight eligible ventilator settings per patient; 41% of which adhered to lung protective ventilation). Of these patients, 311 (64%) died within two years. After adjusting for the total duration of ventilation and other relevant covariates, each additional ventilator setting adherent to lung protective ventilation was associated with a 3% decrease in the risk of mortality over two years (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.95 to 0.99, P=0.002). Compared with no adherence, the estimated absolute risk reduction in two year mortality for a prototypical patient with 50% adherence to lung protective ventilation was 4.0% (0.8% to 7.2%, P=0.012) and with 100% adherence was 7.8% (1.6% to 14.0%, P=0.011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lung protective mechanical ventilation was associated with a substantial long term survival benefit for patients with acute lung injury. Greater use of lung protective ventilation in routine clinical practice could reduce long term mortality in patients with acute lung injury.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00300248.
authors.affiliation: Outcomes After Critical Illness and Surgery Group, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Dale.Needham@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Dale M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Needham
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Colantuoni
authors.forename: Pedro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Mendez-Tellez
authors.forename: Victor D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Dinglas
authors.forename: Jonathan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Sevransky
authors.forename: Cheryl R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Dennison Himmelfarb
authors.forename: Sanjay V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shanholtz
authors.forename: Roy G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Brower
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Pronovost
mesh_terms: D055371:Acute Lung Injury / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013990:Tidal Volume; D013997:Time Factors