Titration of Ventilator Settings to Target Driving Pressure and Mechanical Power.

Purpose: Driving pressure (ΔP) and mechanical power (MP) may be important mediators of lung injury in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) however there is little evidence for strategies directed at lowering these parameters. We applied predictive modeling to estimate the effects of modifying ventilator parameters on ΔP and MP.
Methods: 2,622 ARDS patients (Berlin criteria) from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV database (MIMIC-IV version1.0) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center between 2008 and 2019 were included. Flexible confounding-adjusted regression models for time varying data were fit to estimate the effects of adjusting PEEP and tidal volume (V _T ) on ΔP, and adjusting V _T and respiratory rate (f) on MP.
Results: Reduction in V _T reduced ΔP and MP, with more pronounced effect on MP with lower compliance. Strategies reducing f, consistently increased MP (when V _T was adjusted to maintain consistent minute ventilation). Adjustment of PEEP yielded a U-shaped effect on ΔP.
Conclusions: This novel conditional modeling confirmed expected response patterns for ΔP, with the response to adjustments depending on patients' lung mechanics. Furthermore a V _T -driven approach should be favored over a f -driven approach when aiming to reduce MP.
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