Globally, more than 200 million patients undergo general anaesthesia and
receive mechanical ventilation every
year. Overall, General anaesthesia is an effective method for enabling surgical procedures.
Mechanical ventilation is an essential support during general anaesthesia, but sometimes it may contribute to impaired respiratory function. Protective ventilation strategies have been used in critical care medicine and can be translated to the operating room
with the aim of improving postoperative outcomes. Growing evidence suggests that prophylactic lung protective
ventilation strategies, using low tidal volumes, individualized positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment manoeuvres (RMs) as appropriate, can minimize the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs).¹
1Futier E, et al. A trial of intraoperative low-tidal-volume ventilation in abdominal surgery. New England Journal of Medicine. 2013; 369(5): 428-437.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1301082
