CHANGES IN OXYGENATION AND COMPLIANCE AS RELATED TO BODY POSITION IN ACUTE LUNG INJURY

Body positioning during mechanical ventilation for acute lung injury h as not been studied in a detailed manner. We evaluated the relationshi p between oxygenation, compliance, and body position during mechanical ventilation of patients with acute lung injury (ALI), Sixteen patient s on mechanical ventilation with a diagnosis of ALI (partial pressure of oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen <300 and no clinical evidence of congestive heart failure) were prospectively studied. Each patient wa s placed in a supine position followed by a 30 degrees head elevation and a 45 degrees head elevation, Data obtained in each position (after a 45-60 minute equilibration time) included static pulmonary complian ce and partial pressure of oxygen from arterial blood gas sampling. Ox ygenation is not improved and compliance is adversely affected by upri ght body positioning as compared to the supine position in patients re ceiving mechanical ventilation for ALI.