Rationale: Sevoflurane improves gas exchange, and reduces alveolar edema and inflammation in preclinical studies of lung injury, but its therapeutic effects have never been investigated in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Objectives: To assess whether sevoflurane would improve gas exchange and inflammation in ARDS. Methods: We did a parallel, open-label single-center randomized controlled trial at three intensive care units from a French university hospital between April 2014 and February 2016. Adult patients were randomized within 24 hours of moderate-to-severe ARDS onset to receive either intravenous midazolam or inhaled sevoflurane for 48 hours. The primary outcome was the PaO2/FiO2 ratio on Day 2. Secondary endpoints included alveolar and plasma levels of cytokines and soluble form of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products, and safety. Investigators who did the analyses were masked to group allocation. Analysis was by intention to treat. Measurements and Main Results: Twenty-five patients were assigned to the sevoflurane group and 25 to the midazolam group. On Day 2, PaO2/FiO2 ratio was higher in the sevoflurane group than in the midazolam group (mean ± SD, 205 ± 56 vs. 166 ± 59, respectively; P = 0.04). There was a significant reduction over time in cytokines and soluble form of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products levels in the sevoflurane group, compared with the midazolam group, and no serious adverse event was observed with sevoflurane. Conclusions: In patients with ARDS, use of inhaled sevoflurane improved oxygenation and decreased levels of a marker of epithelial injury and of some inflammatory markers, compared with midazolam. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 02166853).

He pulmonary distribution of aeration loss, predict the response to recruitment maneuvers. Design: Prospective study. Setting: A 16-bed medical–surgical intensive care unit in a university hospital. Measurements and Main Results: Nineteen consecutive patients with early acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome were studied. Computed tomography scans, respiratory mechanics, hemodynamics, and gas exchange were obtained at zero end-expiratory pressure during an open-lung ventilation (controlled mode, tidal volume 6 mL/kg of ideal body weight, positive end-expiratory pressure set 2 cm H2O above the lower inflection point of the inspiratory pressure volume curve at zero end-expiratory pressure) during a recruitment maneuver (continuous positive airway pressure of 40 cm H2O for 40 secs), and, finally, 5 mins after the recruitment maneuver during open-lung ventilation. Nine patients presented focal and 10 presented nonfocal lung morphology at zero end-expiratory pressure. Recruitment maneuver-induced recruited volume after 5 mins of open-lung ventilation was 48 ± 66 mL and 417 ± 293 mL in patients with focal and nonfocal lung morphology, respectively (p = .0009). Recruitment maneuver-induced alveolar hyperinflation represented 23% ± 14% and 8% ± 9% of total lung volume in patients with focal and nonfocal morphology, respectively (p = .007). In patients with focal lung morphology, hyperinflated lung volume was significantly greater during and 5 mins after (316 ± 155 mL) than immediately before recruitment maneuvers (150 ± 175 mL; p = .0407. Conclusion: Lung morphology at zero end-expiratory pressure predicts the response to recruitment maneuvers. Patients with focal lung morphology are at risk for significant hyperinflation during the recruitment maneuvers, and lung recruitment is rather limited....

Introduction: Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO₂) is a useful therapeutic target in septic shock and high-risk surgery. We tested the hypothesis that central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference (P(cv-a)CO₂), a global index of tissue perfusion, could be used as a complementary tool to ScvO₂ for goal-directed fluid therapy (GDT) to identify persistent low flow after optimization of preload has been achieved by fluid loading during high-risk surgery. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of results obtained in a study involving 70 adult patients (ASA I to III), undergoing major abdominal surgery, and treated with an individualized goal-directed fluid replacement therapy. All patients were managed to maintain a respiratory variation in peak aortic flow velocity below 13%. Cardiac index (CI), oxygen delivery index (DO₂i), ScvO₂, P(cv-a)CO₂ and postoperative complications were recorded blindly for all patients. Results: A total of 34% of patients developed postoperative complications. At baseline, there was no difference in demographic or haemodynamic variables between patients who developed complications and those who did not. In patients with complications, during surgery, both mean ScvO₂ (78 ± 4 versus 81 ± 4%, P = 0.017) and minimal ScvO₂ (minScvO₂) (67 ± 6 versus 72 ± 6%, P = 0.0017) were lower than in patients without complications, despite perfusion of similar volumes of fluids and comparable CI and DO₂i values. The optimal ScvO₂ cut-off value was 70.6% and minScvO₂ < 70% was independently associated with the development of postoperative complications (OR = 4.2 (95% CI: 1.1 to 14.4), P = 0.025). P(cv-a)CO₂ was larger in patients with complications (7.8 ± 2 versus 5.6 ± 2 mmHg, P < 10^-6). In patients with complications and ScvO₂ ≥71%, P(cv-a)CO₂ was also significantly larger (7.7 ± 2 versus 5.5 ± 2 mmHg, P < 10^-6) than in patients without complications. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.785 (95% CI: 0.74 to 0.83) for discrimination of patients with ScvO₂ ≥71% who did and did not develop complications, with 5 mmHg as the most predictive threshold value. Conclusions: ScvO₂ reflects important changes in O₂ delivery in relation to O₂ needs during the perioperative period. A P(cv-a)CO₂ < 5 mmHg might serve as a complementary target to ScvO₂ during GDT to identify persistent inadequacy of the circulatory response in face of metabolic requirements when an ScvO₂ ≥71% is achieved. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00852449.

Intubation and extubation of ventilated patients are not risk-free procedures in the intensive care unit (ICU) and can be associated with morbidity and mortality. Intubation in the ICU is frequently required in emergency situations for patients with an unstable cardiovascular or respiratory system. Under these circumstances, it is a high-risk procedure with life-threatening complications (20–50%). Moreover, technical problems can also give rise to complications and several new techniques, such as videolaryngoscopy, have been developed recently. Another risk period is extubation, which fails in approximately 10% of cases and is associated with a poor prognosis. A better understanding of the cause of failure is essential to improve success procedure. In constructing these guidelines, the SFAR/SRLF experts have made use of new data on intubation and extubation in the ICU from the last decade to update existing procedures, incorporate more recent advances and propose algorithms.