A study of noninvasive positive-pressure mechanical ventilation in the treatment of acute lung injury with a complex critical care ventilator

Abstract

Objective * These authors contributed equally to this work. To test the hypothesis that there would be better clinical outcomes following the treatment of patients with acute lung injury (ALI) using noninvasive positive-pressure mechanical ventilation (NIPPV) delivered via a complex critical care ventilator compared with a conventional mini-ventilator. Methods Patients with ALI who required NIPPV were prospectively enrolled and randomly divided between three intervention groups: group A was ventilated using a mini-ventilator; groups B and C were ventilated using a complex critical care ventilator using different settings. Clinical parameters were recorded before and after 8 h of mechanical ventilation. Results A total of 51 patients with ALI were enrolled in the study. Clinical parameters in groups B and C underwent greater improvements than those in group A. Group C demonstrated the lowest treatment failure rate (23.5%). Failure rates were highest in group A (58.8%). Conclusion The findings of this present study suggest that there were more satisfactory clinical outcomes following the treatment of patients with ALI when NIPPV was delivered using a complex critical care ventilator compared with a conventional mini-ventilator.