Electrical Impedance Tomography-based Ventilation Patterns in Patients after Major Surgery.

General anesthesia and mechanical ventilation have negative impacts on the respiratory system, causing heterogeneous distribution of lung aeration, but little is known about the ventilation patterns of postoperative patients and their association with clinical outcomes. To clarify the phenotypes of ventilation patterns along a gravitational direction after surgery by using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) and to evaluate their association with postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) and other relevant clinical outcomes. Adult postoperative patients at high risk for PPCs, receiving mechanical ventilation on ICU admission ( = 128), were prospectively enrolled between November 18, 2021 and July 18, 2022.