Clinical practice and effect of carbon dioxide on outcomes in mechanically ventilated acute brain-injured patients: a secondary analysis of the ENIO study.

Purpose: The use of arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO) as a target intervention to manage elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) and its effect on clinical outcomes remain unclear. We aimed to describe targets for PaCO in acute brain injured (ABI) patients and assess the occurrence of abnormal PaCO values during the first week in the intensive care unit (ICU). The secondary aim was to assess the association of PaCO with in-hospital mortality.