Chest
Volume 123, Issue 6, June 2003, Pages 2050-2056
Journal home page for Chest

Clinical Investigations in Critical Care
Dead Space Ventilation in Critically Ill Children With Lung Injurya

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.123.6.2050Get rights and content

Study objective

In children with acute lung injury, there is an increase in minute ventilation ( V˙e) and inefficient gas exchange due to a high level of physiologic dead space ventilation (Vd/Vt). Mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure, when used in critically ill patients to correct hypoxemia, may contribute to increased Vd/Vt. The purpose of this study was to measure metabolic parameters and Vd/Vt in critically ill children.

Design

A cross-sectional study.

Setting

Pediatric ICU of a university hospital.

Patients

A total of 45 mechanically intubated children (mean age, 5.5 years).

Interventions

Indirect calorimetry was used to measure metabolic parameters. Vd/Vt parameters were calculated using the modified Bohr-Enghoff equation. ARDS was defined based on criteria by The American-European Consensus Conference.

Measurements and results

The group mean (± SD) ventilatory equivalent for oxygen (VeqO2) and ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide (VeqCO2) were 2.9 ± 1 and 3.3 ± 1 L per 100 mL, respectively. The group mean Vd/Vt was 0.48 ± 0.2. When compared to non-ARDS patients (33 patients), the patients with ARDS (12 patients) had a significantly higher VeqO2 (3.3 ± 1 vs 2.8 ± 1 L per 100 mL, respectively; p < 0.05), a significantly higher VeqCO2 (3.7 ± 1 L/100 vs 3.1 ± 1 L per 100 mL, respectively; p < 0.05), and a significantly higher Vd/Vt (0.62 ± 0.14 vs 0.43 ± 0.15, respectively; p < 0.0005).

Conclusions

Critically ill children with ARDS have increased Vd/Vt. Increased Vd/Vt was the main cause of the excess of V˙e demand in these patients. Increased metabolic demands, as shown by the VeqO2, VeqCO2, and ventilatory support, are the major determinants of V˙e requirements in children with ARDS.

Section snippets

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional study measured metabolic and Vd/Vt parameters in 45 critically ill children who had been admitted to a pediatric ICU. The protocol was approved by the institutional review board for studies involving human subjects, and informed parental consent was obtained before the study.

While receiving mechanical ventilation, a previously validated mass spectrometer for children was used to measure metabolic parameters by using a breath-by-breath technique of indirect calorimetry.34

Results

Forty-five patients (20 female patients and 25 male patients) participated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 5.5 ± 5.4 years (range, 0.25 to 18 years), and the mean weight was 19 ± 14 kg (range, 4 to 55 kg). The patient’s clinical diagnoses included the following: sepsis (10 patients); bacterial pneumonia (14 patients); viral pneumonia (6 patients); postoperative (8 patients); malignancies (5 patients); and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (2 patients). The mean length of stay in the ICU

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to measure the metabolic and Vd/Vt parameters in critically ill children and to assess the effect of lung injury on Vd/Vt in children on mechanical ventilation.

Several studies61013have reported Vd/Vt results in mechanically ventilated preoperative adult patients, with values ranging from 0.31 to 0.36. The values reported in pediatric preoperative patients have ranged from 0.35 to 0.38.272930It has been described that patients with ARDS, sepsis, and trauma require

References (48)

  • P Pelosi et al.

    Alterations of lung and chest wall mechanics in patients with acute lung injury: effects of positive end-expiratory pressure

    Am J Respir Crit Care Med

    (1995)
  • IM Weisman et al.

    Current concepts: positive end-expiratory pressure in adult respiratory failure

    N Engl J Med

    (1982)
  • J Milic-Emili et al.

    Some recent advances in the study of the control of breathing in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease

    Anesth Analg

    (1980)
  • PF Crossman et al.

    Dead space during artificial ventilation: gas compression and mechanical dead space

    J Appl Physiol

    (1970)
  • R Fletcher

    Deadspace during anaesthesia

    Acta Anaesthesiol Scand Suppl

    (1990)
  • GD Puri et al.

    Physiological dead space and arterial to end-tidal CO2 difference under controlled normocapnic ventilation in young anaesthetised subjects

    Indian J Med Res

    (1991)
  • K Suwa et al.

    Change in Paco2with mechanical dead space during artificial ventilation

    J Appl Physiol

    (1968)
  • MA Stockwell et al.

    The influence of CO2production and physiological deadspace on end-tidal CO2 during controlled ventilation: a study using a mechanical model

    Anaesth Intensive Care

    (1989)
  • R Kiiski et al.

    Effect of tidal volume on gas exchange and oxygen transport in the adult respiratory distress syndrome

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1992)
  • DR Dantzker et al.

    Ventilation-perfusion distributions in the adult respiratory distress syndrome

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1979)
  • DD Ralph et al.

    Distribution of ventilation and perfusion during positive end-expiratory pressure in the adult respiratory distress syndrome

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1985)
  • R Kiiski et al.

    Physiological effects of reduced tidal volume at constant minute ventilation and inspiratory flow rate in acute respiratory distress syndrome

    Intensive Care Med

    (1996)
  • R Greene et al.

    Early bedside detection of pulmonary vascular occlusion during acute respiratory failure

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1981)
  • M Bachofen et al.

    Alterations of the gas exchange apparatus in adult respiratory insufficiency associated with septicemia

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1977)
  • Cited by (32)

    • Respiratory monitoring of pediatric patients in the Intensive Care Unit

      2016, Boletin Medico del Hospital Infantil de Mexico
    • Pulmonary Edema

      2015, Murray and Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine: Volume 1,2, Sixth Edition
    • Ventilator strategies - What monitoring is helpful?

      2006, Paediatric Respiratory Reviews
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (e-mail: [email protected]).

    This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health General Clinical Research Center and by the Genevieve R. McClelland Fund for Pediatric Intensive Care Research.

    View full text