Effect of Lung Recruitment and Titrated PEEP vs Low PEEP on Mortality in Patients with ARDS

jamanetwork.com January 1, 2018

In patients with moderate to severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a strategy with lung recruitment and titrated Positive End-Expiratory Pressure (PEEP) compared with low PEEP increased 28-day all-cause mortality. These findings do not support the routine use of lung recruitment maneuver and PEEP titration in these patients. In this randomized trial of 1010 patients, 28-day mortality was significantly higher among patients treated with a strategy of lung recruitment and PEEP titration (55.3%) than those treated with a conventional low-PEEP strategy (49.3%).