Mechanical Power Is Associated With Mortality in Pressure-Controlled Ventilated Patients: A Dutch, Single-Center Cohort Study

Importance: Mechanical power (MP) could serve as a valuable parameter in clinical practice to estimate the likelihood of adverse outcomes. However, the safety thresholds for MP in mechanical ventilation remain underexplored and contentious.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the association between MP and hospital mortality across varying degrees of lung disease severity, classified by Pao2/Fio2 ratios.

Design, setting, and participants: This is a retrospective cohort study using automatically extracted data. Patients admitted to the ICU of a tertiary referral hospital in The Netherlands between 2018 and 2024 and ventilated in pressure-controlled mode were included.

Main outcomes and measures: Logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-IV score, and Pao2/Fio2 ratio, was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for all-cause in-hospital mortality.

Results: A total of 2184 patients were analyzed, with a mean age of 62.5 ± 13.8 years, of whom 1508 (70.2%) were male. The mean MP was highest in patients with the lowest Pao2/Fio2 ratios (21.5 ± 6.5 J/min) compared with those with the highest ratios (12.0 ± 3.8 J/min; p < 0.001). Adjusted analyses revealed that increased MP was associated with higher mortality (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.03-1.09 per J/min increase). Similarly, MP normalized for body weight showed a stronger association with mortality (OR, 1.004; 95% CI, 1.002-1.006 per J/min/kg increase). An increase in mortality was seen when MP exceeded 16-18 J/min.

Conclusions and relevance: Our findings demonstrate a significant association between MP and hospital mortality, even after adjusting for key confounders. Mortality increases notably when MP exceeds 16-18 J/min. Normalized MP presents an even stronger association with mortality. These results underscore the need for further research into ventilation strategies that consider MP adjustments.