Feasibility of Upright Bed Position in ARDS Patients

Acute respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome is a life-threatening occurrence. The annual incidence of ARDS is 141,500 patients, with 59,000 deaths, and a cost of 1,642,000 hospital days/year. Within this population, special care needs of obese patients are becoming a clinically important entity within the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). ICU literature on body positioning for obese mechanically ventilated patients is limited. Currently, intubated obese patients are placed in the supine position with the head of bed elevated at 30 degrees. The 30 degree head up position has been adopted for all patients as a reflection of the Ventilator Associated Pneumonia prevention literature. In all critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation, a cephalic shift of the diaphragm along with dorsal atelectasis of the lung occurs. In obese patients this alteration may be associated with greater degree of impairment in lung compliance and gas exchange as compared to non-obese ventilated patients. It is possible that current ICU body positioning recommendations for obese mechanically ventilated patients may be detrimental due to the obese abdominal compartment hampering normal diaphragm function and position.

In supine, intubated, mechanically ventilated patients it has long been noted that lower lung lobes become atelectatic soon after intubation due to several factors such as accumulation of fluids, air closure, and a cephalic shift of the diaphragm. Obese patients develop more atelectasis during anesthesia than non-obese patients. There have been attempts to correct this iatrogenic complication in critically ill patients such as placement of patients in the prone position. Prone positioning does resolve the dorsal atelectasis and shows improvement in hypoxia. However there is no mortality benefit with prone positioning. Also, continuous lateral rotational patient positioning on mechanical ventilation has shown similar effects7. Specific literature with regards to obese patients and their unique susceptibility towards this phenomenon is limited.

As BMI increases there is an associated reduction of lung volumes, expiatory reserve volume, and functional reserve capacity. It is also known that in the reverse trendelenburg position, there is a gravitational pull allowing abdominal contents to descent toward the pelvis. This position of the abdominal contents allows for a more functional diaphragm position. One observational study 10 conducted a 12 hour intervention which examined upright position with patients' body in a straight line at 40-45 degrees (i.e., reverse trendelenburg-no bend at the waist). This study demonstrated a significant increase in the PaO2/FiO2 ratio (ie, oxygenation) during upright position.