Feasibility and Efficacy of Automated Lateral Decubitus Therapy in Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure

The objective will be to estimate the efficacy and validate the feasibility of this alveolar recruitment protocol through the automated rotation of the patient, without the need for high airway pressures.Also the aim to demonstrate that this protocol is safe, with fewer repercussions on the hemodynamics of critically ill patients. To achieve this, a prospective, randomized study were conduct in two populations of critically ill patients: Sample-1) patients in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery, with a PF ratio of less than 250 (N=50 patients) admitted to the post-anesthesia care unit of Incor for extubation, and Sample-2) patients with ARDS or acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, with a PF ratio of less than 250, requiring mechanical ventilation (N=30 additional patients), and necessarily presenting an asymmetric (>65%/35%) distribution of ventilation on the functional map of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) while in the supine position. A stratified randomization (1:1) within each of these samples of 30 patients will be done by computer.

For Sample 1 - the control group will undergo an ARDSNet-type ventilatory strategy, with PEEP adjustment according to BMI, based on previous studies that evaluated PEEP titrated by EIT in relation to BMI; and for Sample 2 - the ARDSNet-type ventilatory strategy, with PEEP adjustment according to the "low PEEP/FIO2" oxygenation table. All patients will remain on mechanical ventilation for at least 4 hours and will be monitored with EIT throughout the study. In postoperative patients, the rotation of the treatment group will follow the sequence "supine - lateral - supine - lateral - supine," with 10 minutes in each supine position and 20 minutes in each lateral position, and the first rotated side is defined as the lung with less ventilation being placed in a non-dependent position with a maximum PEEP of 24 cmH2O. In patients with asymmetric injury (acute hypoxemic respiratory failure), the lateralization sequence will be "supine-lateral with the better lung dependent-supine," meaning that the rotation will be unilateral, with 20-minute lateral position times alternated with another 10 minutes in the supine position. Recruitment maneuvers routinely used by the institution may be used as a rescue for any patient and will be mandatory at the end of the 4-hour study period in all postoperative patients (Sample 1, both treatment arms). The maneuvers will be performed with controlled pressure ventilation, a maximum PEEP of 30 cmH2O, with maximum inspiratory pressures of 50 cmH2O, for a maximum time of 30 seconds. These maneuvers will not be applied to patients with asymmetric injury (Sample 2, acute hypoxemic respiratory failure).

The main variables for comparison between the arms of each population sample will be: a) lung collapse and hyperdistension, b) shunt and PF ratio, c) ventilatory ratio (as a "surrogate" for dead space), d) global lung mechanics, e) regional mechanics by EIT, and f) continuous measurements of cardiac output (Volume-View, Baxter), frequency, and mean arterial pressure. These variables will be collected during the baseline period and after the recruitment maneuver for Sample 1, and after 24 hours of intervention for Sample 2.

The main hypothesis is that rotational therapy can increase regional transpulmonary pressure (in the non-dependent region after rotation), resulting in effective alveolar recruitment, evidenced by an improvement in PF ratio, global compliance, and regional compliance after returning to the supine position in both patient populations. In the case of patients with asymmetric lung injury (Sample 2), a effect is expecting within the following 24 hours compared to the control therapy. In the case of patients with symmetric injury, these effects can also be compared with the effects obtained by the more aggressive and traditional recruitment maneuver to be performed at the end of the observation period. As a secondary hypothesis, it was to intend to demonstrate that the therapy will cause minimal hemodynamic impairment compared to the control arm, and also less hemodynamic impairment when compared to the traditional recruitment maneuver at the end of the study (for postoperative patients).