Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21635753›Full record

Trial reportCritical care (London, England)2011

A randomised controlled trial of an open lung strategy with staircase recruitment, titrated PEEP and targeted low airway pressures in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Carol L Hodgson, David V Tuxen, Andrew R Davies, Michael J Bailey, Alisa M Higgins, Anne E Holland, Jenny L Keating, David V Pilcher, Andrew J Westbrook, David J Cooper and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Critical care (London, England), 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
64citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
8.7field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

64 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 190 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Between-trial heterogeneity in ARDS research.Intensive care medicine · 2021
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  19. Saudi Guideline for Mechanical Ventilation in Adults.Saudi journal of medicine & medical sciences · 2026
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  20. Review

4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Carol L HodgsonIntensive Care Unit, The Alfred, Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC 3181, Australia. carol.hodgson@monash.edu
David V Tuxen
Andrew R Davies
Michael J Bailey
Alisa M Higgins
Anne E Holland
Jenny L Keating
David V Pilcher
Andrew J Westbrook
David J Cooper
Alistair D Nichol
Monash University · AUThe Alfred Hospital · AULa Trobe University · AUMonash Alfred Psychiatry Research centre · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionTidal volume and plateau pressure minimisation are the standard components of a protective lung ventilation strategy for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Open lung strategies, including higher positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment manoeuvres to date have not proven efficacious. This study examines the effectiveness and safety of a novel open lung strategy, which includes permissive hypercapnia, staircase recruitment manoeuvres (SRM) and low airway pressure with PEEP titration.

methodTwenty ARDS patients were randomised to treatment or ARDSnet control ventilation strategies. The treatment group received SRM with decremental PEEP titration and targeted plateau pressure < 30 cm H2O. Gas exchange and lung compliance were measured daily for 7 days and plasma cytokines in the first 24 hours and on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 (mean ± SE). Duration of ventilation, ICU stay and hospital stay (median and interquartile range) and hospital survival were determined.

resultsThere were significant overall differences between groups when considering plasma IL-8 and TNF-α. For plasma IL-8, the control group was 41% higher than the treatment group over the seven-day period (ratio 1.41 (1.11 to 1.79), P = 0.01), while for TNF-α the control group was 20% higher over the seven-day period (ratio 1.20 (1.01 to 1.42) P = 0.05). PaO2/FIO2 (204 ± 9 versus 165 ± 9 mmHg, P = 0.005) and static lung compliance (49.1 ± 2.9 versus 33.7 ± 2.7 mls/cm H2O, P < 0.001) were higher in the treatment group than the control group over seven days. There was no difference in duration of ventilation (180 (87 to 298) versus 341 (131 to 351) hrs, P = 0.13), duration of ICU stay (9.9 (5.6 to 14.8) versus 16.0 (8.1 to 19.3) days, P = 0.19) and duration of hospital stay (17.9 (13.7 to 34.5) versus 24.7 (20.5 to 39.8) days, P = 0.16) between the treatment and control groups.

conclusionsThis open lung strategy was associated with greater amelioration in some systemic cytokines, improved oxygenation and lung compliance over seven days. A larger trial powered to examine clinically-meaningful outcomes is warranted.

trial registrationACTRN12607000465459.

Indexed as

HypercapniaTidal VolumeAgedFemaleHumansInterleukin-8Lung ComplianceMaleMiddle AgedOxygenPilot ProjectsPositive-Pressure RespirationPressureRespiratory Distress SyndromeTreatment OutcomeTumor Necrosis Factor-alphaInterleukin-8OxygenTumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Identifiers

PMID21635753
PMCPMC3219001
OpenAlexW2126385340

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.