Objective: We evaluated pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) with multiple programmed levels of positive end expiratory pressure (programmed multi-level ventilation; PMLV) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Methods: We conducted a multicenter, retrospective study from November 2020 to February 2021. PMLV was used with PCV in all patients with intensive care admission until improvement in oxygenation (fraction of inspired oxygen [FiO2] ≤0.50 and oxygen saturation [SpO2] >92%). The observed outcomes were improvement of hypoxemia, length of mechanical ventilation, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) stability, and adverse events.
Results: Of 188 mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19-related ARDS, we analyzed 60 patients treated with PMLV. Hypoxemia improved in 55 (92%) patients, as measured by the change in partial pressure of oxygen/FiO2 and SpO2/FiO2 ratios on day 3 versus day 1, and in 32 (66%) ventilated patients on day 7 versus day 3. The median (interquartile range) length of mechanical ventilation for survivors and non-survivors was 8.4 (4.7-14.9) and 6.7 (3.6-10.3) days, respectively.
Conclusions: PMLV appears to be a safe and effective ventilation strategy for improving hypoxemia in patients with COVID-19-related ARDS. Further studies are needed comparing the PMLV mode with the conventional ARDS ventilatory approach.
Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome; coronavirus disease 2019; intensive care; mechanical ventilation; programmed multi-level ventilation; respiratory failure.