Loading...
To compare the effects of low versus high tidal volume ventilation in pediatric patients with inhalational burns, researchers from a single burn hospital reviewed outcomes for 932 patients with confirmed inhalational injuries between 1986 and 2014. High tidal volume ventilation (mean, 15 mL/kg) was the standard of care from 1986 until 1996; low tidal volume ventilation (mean, 9 mL/kg) has been used since 1996 due to the conventional wisdom that dealing with respiratory acidosis in the short term is superior to pulmonary injury in the long term.
Patients in the high tidal volume group had significantly fewer ventilatory days (mean, 4 vs. 5) and lower incidences of atelectasis (43% vs. 58%) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (11% vs. 15%)…