Mechanical Ventilation in Patients With Lung Impairment Controlled by the Mechanical Energy of the Respiratory System

Overview

A project aimed at expanding the monitoring of mechanical energy (ME) in patients on mechanical ventilation (MV), with the aim of contributing to reducing the influence of the device for mechanical ventilation of patients on the lung parenchyma by setting parameters that will lead to lower ventilation energy. According to the parameters set on the device for mechanical ventilation, the mechanical energy will be calculated, which the physician in the interventional arm of the study will be able to use to change the mechanical ventilation settings. The physician will follow the best clinical practice, and in the non-intervention group, the MV setting will be conventional.

Mechanical ventilation (MV) in patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) is one of the most common causes of hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU). ARF can be associated with severe forms of lung injury, the so-called ARDS (adult respiratory distress syndrome). Despite progress in the management of patients with ARDS, the mortality of these patients remains high, with in-hospital mortality reaching up to 45%. In patients with severe ARDS, mechanical ventilation can damage the lung parenchyma and cause ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI), which further worsens the patient's prognosis. The result of setting the individual parameters of mechanical ventilation is the energy that the device exerts on the lung parenchyma, which ensures the opening of the lungs and a change in their volume related to gas exchange during breathing. Routine laboratory values of blood gases and parameters of inflammation (CRP, PCT) will be recorded; which is part of routine clinical practice and standard patient care unrelated to the study. As part of a prospective randomized study, a system for monitoring mechanical energy at the patient's bedside will be developed. Patients will be randomized into two groups - the intervention arm (mechanical ventilation controlled according to ME) and the non-intervention arm (conventional method of conducting mechanical ventilation).