Influence of prone position ventilation in conjunction with inhalation of NO on acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effects of prone position ventilation (PPV) combined with inhalation of NO on oxygenation of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients.Methods A total of 21 patients with ARDS composed of 15 male and 6 female aged ranging from 2 to 74 years with mean age of 39 ± 17.4 years were hospitalized from September 2008 through January 2011.After application of mechanical ventilation with optimal PEEP,patients still needed the high concentration oxygen inhalation (FiO2 ≥ 60％).They were randomly (random number) divided into three groups for controlled study.Patients of group A were given NO in addition to oxygen inhalation for 4 hours,patients of group B were put in prone position ventilation with oxygen inhalation for 2 hours,then they were returned to the supine position ventilation,and patients of group C were put into prone position ventilation with inhalation of oxygen plus NO for 2 hours,and then they were returned to the supine position ventilation,but they were continued to inhaled NO.The oxygenation indexes of three groups of patients were measured before the intervention,2 hours and 4 hours after the procedure of experiment.Results The oxygenation indexes of three groups of patients were improved in terms of comparison between pre-intervention and 2 hours after intervention,but there was no statistically significant difference found in group A (P ＞ 0.05),the differences in group B and group C were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Compared the oxygen index between pre-intervention and 4 hours after intervention,the differences in group A and group B were not statistically significant (P ＞0.05),but the difference in group C was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions PPV could improve oxygenation in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients.PPV with NO inhalation could improve oxygenation in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients as well as effectively maintain the oxygenation after patients were returned to the supine position ventilation.Therefore prone position ventilation combined with inhalation of NO improved oxygenation and at the same time reduced the prone position time. Key words: Prone position ventilation; NO; ARDS; Oxygenation index