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Predicting outcomes in ARDS patients – Does partitioning respiratory mechanics help?

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作者: Maritza Henriques Rodrigues

日期: 11.10.2024

The authors' point? Transpulmonary driving pressure is equivalent to airway driving pressure in terms of predicting outcomes. Their findings support the importance of limiting lung and airway driving pressure, while also maintaining positive end-expiratory PL in obese patients.

Predicting outcomes in ARDS patients – Does partitioning respiratory mechanics help?

Clinical question

What is the relative importance of global and partitioned respiratory mechanics in predicting outcomes in ARDS patients, with a specific focus on the superiority of transpulmonary driving pressure (∆PL) compared to airway driving pressure (∆Paw), and the potential enhancement of predictive power by the oxygenation stretch index? 

Clinical background

  • Optimizing ventilatory strategies to minimize ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) is crucial for improving patient outcomes in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). 
  • Airway driving pressure has been found to show a strong association with outcomes in ventilated patients
  • VILI is linked to lung stretch, and transpulmonary driving pressure (∆PL) or tidal lung stress may be more accurate determinants of VILI than ∆Paw by eliminating the chest wall contribution to ∆Paw.
  • Calculated indices relating to transpulmonary pressures, particularly in the dorsal and ventral lung regions, may have varying implications for monitoring VILI.
  • Main study hypothesis: ∆PL is a superior predictor of outcome compared to ∆Paw.
  • Secondary hypothesis: The oxygenation stretch index, which is a composite variable using PaO2/FiO2 divided by ∆Paw, can enhance the predictive power of ∆Paw.

Design and setting

Prospective, observational, multicenter study.  

Patients

  • Total number of enrolled patients: 385
  • Excluded from analysis:  Eight patients where measurements were obtained in the prone position or under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
  • Study cohort: 377 patients 

Inclusion criteria Age greater than 18 years
Diagnosis of ARDS as per the Berlin definition
Receiving assist/control ventilation with sedation
Within the first week of intubation
Exclusion criteria Known esophageal pathology
Active upper gastrointestinal bleeding or other contraindications to gastric tube insertion
Severe hemodynamic instability defined as:
- An increase > 30% in vasopressors in the previous 6 hours
- Norepinephrine greater than 0.5 mcg/kg/min

Intervention

Measurement aspect Details
Respiratory mechanics Semi-recumbent position
No spontaneous breathing during measurements
Deep sedation with or without neuromuscular blockade
Ventilation settings:
- Volume control (VC)
- VT 6 ml/kg PBW
- Constant inspiratory flow 50–60 l/min
- 0.3-s end-inspiratory pause
- PEEP set by the clinician
Esophaegeal catheter placement Esophageal catheter inserted into the stomach then withdrawn to 40 cm
Placement confirmed by cardiac artifacts, tidal change in esophageal pressure (Pes), and occlusion test
Pes measured in moderate/severe ARDS with no spontaneous breathing effort
Mechanics and arterial blood gases Measurements at clinical PEEP level
Repeated 10 min after PEEP modification (±5 cmH2O)
PEEP adjusted to maintain Pplat ≤ 35 cmH2O and hemodynamic stability
Pplat limit only for measurement safety, not for clinical practice
Definitions in respiratory mechanics Global mechanics (∆Paw) based on airway pressure
∆Paw calculated as plateau pressure (Pplat) minus total PEEP
Lung and chest wall mechanics assessed using Pes and PL
∆Paw split into ∆PL and chest wall driving pressure (ΔPes during tidal breath)
PL partitioned specific to ventral or dorsal lungs based on esophageal position:
- Directly measured PL: Specifically reflects pressure across the dorsal lung
- Elastance-derived PL: Specifically reflects pressure across the ventral lung
Calculated indices Oxygenation stretch index [(PaO2/(FiO2 × ∆Paw)]
Mechanical power calculated using a specified formula
0.098 × RR × [VT2 × [0.5 × Ers + RR × (1 + I:E)/(60 × I:E) × Rrs] + VT × PEEP]

Measurements and main results

Aspect Findings
Measurements Made within 2 days post-intubation
Median clinical PEEP: 12 cmH2O
Pes measured in 80% of the cohort (302 patients)
Characteristics Non-survivors showed: Higher age, APACHE II at ICU admission, higher SOFA, and lower PaO2/FiO2 at enrollment
Respiratory mechanics Non-survivors showed:
- Higher Pplat, ∆Paw, ∆PL, elastance-derived plateau PL, and respiratory rate
- Lower oxygenation stretch index
There were no significant differences in responses to higher PEEP
Outcome association ∆Paw and ∆PL were associated with a higher risk of death
∆Paw was a slightly better fit than ∆PL in adjusted models
Chest wall driving pressure was correlated with non-pulmonary SOFA and associated with 60-day mortality in the unadjusted model
Lower survival was shown for elevated ∆Paw, ∆PL, and elastance-derived plateau PL
Post-hoc analysis (obese patients) Positive end-expiratory PL was associated with a higher survival probability at day 60
Post-hoc analysis (mechanical power and ∆Paw × 4 + RR) ∆Paw × 4 + RR had the best fit after adjusting for age and SOFA
Mechanical power was only associated with 60-day mortality when normalized by respiratory system compliance
Oxygenation stretch index Did not outperform ∆Paw in predicting mortality
Higher values were associated with significantly lower 60-day mortality
Association persisted after adjusting for age and non-pulmonary SOFA
Dichotomizing stretch index < 10 mmHg/cmH2O showed higher survival for high values
Sensitivity analyses No significant interaction between early measurement and mechanics for 60-day mortality
The association between mechanics and mortaliy was maintained even when patients still ventilated at day 60 were excluded

Primary outcome

  • Mortality rate at day 60 was 37.7%.
  • Transpulmonary driving pressure did not correlate more strongly with outcomes than airway driving pressure.
  • The oxygenation stretch index as a combination of oxygenation and airway driving pressure did not outperform airway driving pressure alone.
  • Oxygenation lost its association with outcomes when adjusted for airway driving pressure.
  • Targeting a positive end-expiratory transpulmonary pressure appears relevant, particularly in obese patients.

Conclusions

∆PL was equivalent to ∆Paw in terms of predicting outcome. The study supports the soundness of limiting lung and airway driving pressures during mechanical ventilation. Furthermore, maintaining positive end-expiratory PL may improve outcomes in obese patients.
 

Food for thought

  • The study provides valuable insights for designing new ventilatory strategies based on respiratory mechanics.
  • A slightly improved goodness-of-fit  was observed with ∆Paw in the adjusted models, highlighting the importance of considering not only lung-specific parameters but also chest wall mechanics when assessing the impact of driving pressures on patient outcomes.
  • The influence of chest wall driving pressure, linked to disease severity and outcomes, may explain the unexpected findings of this study. 
  • Fixed balloon volumes were used for simplicity in measurements, which may impact on the accuracy of elastance-derived plateau pressure.
  • Almost one-third of ARDS patients experience complete airway closure, potentially affecting the precision of elastance measurements.
  • Data on key co-interventions for ARDS - such as prone positioning, neuromuscular blockade, steroids, and ECMO - were not collected, potentially influencing respiratory mechanics.

How can I incorporate these findings into my daily work with Hamilton Medical technology?

The study highlights the importance of driving pressure (∆P) and esophageal pressure measurements in guiding mechanical ventilation strategies and ultimately improving patient outcomes. The technology in Hamilton ventilators can support clinicians in several ways.

Driving pressure calculation All Hamilton ventilators enable clinicians to calculate driving pressure in any ventilation mode, aligning with the study's emphasis on the significance of ∆P in ARDS management.
Esophageal pressure monitoring HAMILTON-G5/S1 and HAMILTON-C6 ventilators feature an auxiliary port dedicated to connecting esophageal catheter pressure lines. Clinicians can monitor both esophageal and transpulmonary pressures to get a comprehensive view of respiratory mechanics. Ventilator settings can then be individualized in line with the study's recommendation.
Esophageal manometry with P/V Tool Together with esophageal manometry, the P/V Tool offers a more in-depth assessment of lung mechanics. Assessing recruitment potential can help determine which recruitment strategy to apply, thereby helping to limit overdistension and prevent VILI. (P/V Tool available as a standard feature on the HAMILTON-S1 and optional on the HAMILTON-G5, HAMILTON-C3/C6.)