Aggressive alveolar recruitment in ARDS: More shadows than lights.

Alveolar recruitment in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is defined as the penetration of gas into previously unventilated areas or poorly ventilated areas. Alveolar recruitment during recruitment maneuvering (RM) depends on the duration of the maneuver, the recruitable lung tissue, and the balance between the recruitment of collapsed areas and over-insufflation of the ventilated areas. Alveolar recruitment is estimated using computed tomography of the lung and, at the patient bedside, through assessment of the recruited volume using pressure-volume curves and assessing lung morphology with pulmonary ultrasound and/or impedance tomography.

The effect of cannabidiol on sevoflurane minimum alveolar concentration reduction produced by morphine in rats.

Objective: To investigate the effect of cannabidiol (CBD) on sevoflurane minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) reduction produced by morphine in rats.

Study Design: Randomized, blinded trial.

Animals: A total of 75 male Wistar Han rats weighing 276 ± 23 g (mean and standard deviation), aged 3 months.

New Ventilator Strategies: High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation Combined with Volume Guarantee.

High-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) has been proposed as an alternative method of invasive ventilation in immature infants to prevent ventilator lung injury. To better control the size of the high-frequency tidal volume and to prevent large tidal volumes, a new strategy of controlling the tidal volume during HFOV (VThf) has been developed, HFOV-volume guarantee (VG). Data from preclinical, neonatal animal studies in normal and surfactant-depleted lungs have demonstrated the feasibility of this technique to directly control the VThf in the normal compliance and low compliance situations.

Effect of the I/E ratio on CO2 removal during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation with volume guarantee in a neonatal animal model of RDS.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of I/E ratio on carbon dioxide (CO2) elimination during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) combined with volume guarantee (VG). Five 2-day-old piglets were studied before and after a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). The effect of an I/E ratio of 1:1 and 1:2 with (VG-ON) and without VG (VG-OFF) on PaCO2, as well as delta and mean airway pressures at the airway opening (∆Phf-ao, mPaw-ao) and at the tracheal level (∆Phf-t, mPaw-t) were evaluated at frequencies of 5, 8, 11, and 14 Hz.

Single-syringe ketamine-propofol for induction of anaesthesia in rabbits.

Objective: To evaluate and compare three intravenous (IV) doses of a ketamine-propofol admixture (ketofol) for induction of anaesthesia in unpremedicated rabbits.

Study Design: Prospective, randomized 'blinded' trial.

Animals: Twenty-one healthy female New Zealand rabbits weighing 2.