Ventilation with high versus low peep levels during general anaesthesia for open abdominal surgery does not affect postoperative spirometry: A randomised clinical trial.

Background: Invasive mechanical ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery typically causes atelectasis and impairs postoperative lung function.

Objective: We investigated the effect of intraoperative ventilation with high positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment manoeuvres (RMs) on postoperative spirometry.

Design: This was a preplanned, single-centre substudy of an international multicentre randomised controlled trial, the PROVHILO trial.

Electrical impedance tomography during major open upper abdominal surgery: a pilot-study.

Background: Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) of the lungs facilitates visualization of ventilation distribution during mechanical ventilation. Its intraoperative use could provide the basis for individual optimization of ventilator settings, especially in patients at risk for ventilation-perfusion mismatch and impaired gas exchange, such as patients undergoing major open upper abdominal surgery. EIT throughout major open upper abdominal surgery could encounter difficulties in belt positioning and signal quality.