Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · May 2013
Comparative StudyEndoscopic imaging to assess alveolar mechanics during quasi-static and dynamic ventilatory conditions in rats with noninjured and injured lungs.
Although global respiratory mechanics are usually used to determine the settings of mechanical ventilation, this approach does not adequately take into account alveolar mechanics. However, it should be expected that the ventilatory condition (quasi-static vs. dynamic) and lung condition (noninjured vs. injured) affect alveolar mechanics in a clinically relevant way. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate alveolar mechanics during quasi-static and dynamic ventilatory maneuvers in noninjured and injured lungs. We hypothesized that alveolar mechanics vary with ventilatory and lung conditions. ⋯ Alveolar mechanics during mechanical ventilation differed between quasi-static and dynamic conditions and varied with lung condition. Our data thus confirm that analysis of respiratory system mechanics under dynamic conditions is preferable to analysis during static conditions.