Protective mechanical ventilation, why use it?

Background And Objectives: Mechanical ventilation (MV) strategies have been modified over the last decades with a tendency for increasingly lower tidal volumes (VT). However, in patients without acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) the use of high VTs is still very common. Retrospective studies suggest that this practice can be related to mechanical ventilation-associated ALI.