Conventional Mechanical Ventilation in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The development of pediatric-specific criteria by the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Consensus Conference (PALICC) may help with prompt recognition, accurate diagnosis, and prognostication. This may lead to stratification of disease severity to guide therapeutic interventions. The primary objective of conventional ventilation is to achieve effective gas exchange at minimal iatrogenic ventilator-induced lung injury. It is important to emphasize that no mode of ventilation has been demonstrated to be superior in improving outcomes. However, the evolving understanding of ventilation-induced lung injury and respiratory mechanics in ARDS could lead to improvement in techniques to effectively deliver mechanical ventilation. Although PALICC has provided PARDS diagnosis and management recommendations to the pediatric community, it remains up to the investigators to validate the proposed diagnostic criteria and management strategies.
