Exogenous surfactant and alveolar recruitment in the treatment of the acute respiratory distress syndrome

Objective To investigate the effect of alveolar recruitment combined with surfactant administration on children with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Material and Methods A prospective, randomized, controlled and sequential study was carried out. Group A (16 children) was treated with both the alveolar recruitment manoeuvres (ARM) and the administration of the surfactant every 8 h for 3 days; group B (15) received the usual treatment only. The alveolar recruitment was carried out by increasing positive end-expiratory pressure 2 by 2 cm H2O to improve the transcutaneous oxygen saturation values up to 88% and 90%. Demographic data, gasometric and ventilator parameters, chest radiography and 28-day mortality were evaluated. Results There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between groups. An hour after treatment, significant differences (P < 0.001) were observed in transcutaneous oxygen saturation (SaO2; Group A: 94.1%, Group B: 89.9%), PaO2/FiO2 (212.7 and 126.4) and oxygenation index (OI; 11.4 and 18.5). After 8 h, the differences in SaO2 (Group A: 94.6%, Group B: 90.3%), PaO2/FiO2 (225.8 and 126.9) and OI (10.8 and 18.4) were also significant (P < 0.001). From the fifth dose of the surfactant, the static compliance (P = 0.0034) and radiological images (P = 0.002) were more greatly improved in group A than in group B. Survival was significantly higher in group A (81.3%) than in group B (26.7%) (P = 0.006). Conclusions The combined treatment of surfactant administration and ARM resulted in a better oxygenation and survival in children with ARDS than when only recruitment was used.