Dec 11, 2020
But study used non-standard PEEP ventilation strategy
A ventilation strategy with lower positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) held its own against a higher-PEEP strategy in patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) according to researchers in the Netherlands, although Canadian experts pointed out that neither strategy was in line with standard care.
In the non-inferiority trial performed at eight ICUs, “patients randomized to the lower PEEP strategy had a median of 18 ventilator-free days while patients randomized to the higher PEEP strategy had a median of 17 ventilator-free days at day 28 (mean ratio 1.04, 1-sided 95% CI 0.95 to infinity,
P=0.007 for non-inferiority),” reported Marcus J. Schultz, MD, PhD, of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers and co-authors in RELAx Collaborative Group.