Assessment of Regional Ventilation During Recruitment Maneuver by Electrical Impedance Tomography in Dogs

BACKGROUND: During protective mechanical ventilation, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is used to monitor alveolar recruitment maneuvers as well as the distribution of regional ventilation. This technique can infer atelectasis and lung overdistention during mechanical ventilation in anesthetized patients or in the ICU. Changes in lung tissue stretching are evaluated by monitoring the electrical impedance of lung tissue with each respiratory cycle. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of regional ventilation during recruitment maneuvers based on the variables obtained in pulmonary electrical impedance tomography during protective mechanical ventilation, focusing on better lung recruitment associated with less or no overdistention. METHODS: Prospective clinical study using seven adult client–owned healthy dogs, weighing 25 ± 6 kg, undergoing elective ovariohysterectomy or orchiectomy. The animals were anesthetized and ventilated in volume-controlled mode (7 ml.kg(−1)) with stepwise PEEP increases from 0 to 20 cmH(2)O in steps of 5 cmH(2)O every 5 min and then a stepwise decrease. EIT, respiratory mechanics, oxygenation, and hemodynamic variables were recorded for each PEEP step. RESULTS: The results show that the regional compliance of the dependent lung significantly increased in the PEEP 10 cmH(2)O decrease step when compared with baseline (p < 0.027), and for the nondependent lung, there was a decrease in compliance at PEEP 20 cmH(2)O (p = 0.039) compared with baseline. A higher level of PEEP was associated with a significant increase in silent space of the nondependent regions from the PEEP 10 cmH(2)O increase step (p = 0.048) until the PEEP 15 cmH(2)O (0.019) decrease step with the highest values at PEEP 20 cmH(2)0 (p = 0.016), returning to baseline values thereafter. Silent space of the dependent regions did not show any significant changes. Drive pressure decreased significantly in the PEEP 10 and 5 cmH(2)O decrease steps (p = 0.032) accompanied by increased respiratory static compliance in the same PEEP step (p = 0.035 and 0.018, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The regional ventilation distribution assessed by EIT showed that the best PEEP value for recruitment maintenance, capable of decreasing areas of pulmonary atelectasis in dependent regions promoting less overinflation in nondependent areas, was from 10 to 5 cmH(2)O decreased steps.