Introduction:

Artificial mechanical ventilation is a life support therapeutic measure applied in clinical scenarios such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Therefore, to establish safety parameters is necessary. Alveolar distending pressure is a variable of interest in lung protection. It is used to optimize tidal volume according to the size of the lung available during gas exchange. It reflects the degree of lung stretch in each respiratory cycle.

Objective:

To update contents concerning alveolar distending pressure in ventilated patients with acute respiratory distress.

Methods:

A search was carried out in Google Scholar, Pubmed/Medline, regional SciELO, among others, under the terms ventilación de protección pulmonar/variables [lung-protective ventilation/variables], presión de distensión alveolar durante la ventilación/medición [alveolar distending pressure during ventilation/measurement], relación de la presión de distensión alveolar [relationship between alveolar distending pressure] and mortalidad en SDRA/resultados [ARDS mortality/results]. Sixty-five references that met the inclusion criteria were selected.

Results:

Current evidence associates the maintenance of excessive alveolar distending pressure with mortality in ventilated patients with respiratory distress syndrome. It allows to identify the risk of ventilator-induced damage and pulmonary complications in other clinical scenarios. It thus achieves improved goals and objectives in artificial mechanical ventilation.

Conclusions:

Alveolar distending pressure is associated with changes in survival and has been shown to be the key mediator in the effects of mechanical ventilation on acute respiratory distress syndrome outcomes.

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