• Martine S Nielsen, Ulrich Halekoh, Anders Perner, Trine Haberlandt, Nikolai Arnold- Larsen, Sarah Weihe, Ricardo S Garcia, Hanna Siegel, Christian Hagdrup, Mads R Skøtt, Anne-Mette S Jensen, Jonathan B Frische, Kasper Wethelund, Søren H Christiansen, Søren R Aagaard, Sofie Højlund, Bo Westergaard, Aage Christiansen, George Michagin, Marie S Worm, Ann-Kristine M Svendsen, Kirstine N la Cour, Trine B Jonassen, Jens U Jensen, Kasper M Sørensen, Nicolai Haase, Bodil S Rasmussen, and Anne C Brøchner.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Kolding Hospital, Denmark.
• Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2025 Feb 1; 69 (2): e14571e14571.

AimTo describe the use of invasive mechanical ventilation core strategies, adjuvant treatments and the occurrence of barotrauma and prolonged ventilation in ICU patients with COVID-19 in Denmark, retrospectively.MethodsAll ICUs admitting COVID-19 patients in Denmark from 10 March 2020 to 2 April 2021 were invited to participate. All patients with COVID-19 who received invasive mechanical ventilation were included and data was retrospectively collected from electronic patient records.ResultsA total of 774 patients were invasively ventilated during the first two waves and included; 70% were males and the median age was 69 years. 340 (51.5%) of patients never exceeded tidal volumes of 8 mL/kg. For all patients, tidal volumes under 8 mL/kg were applied in 77.6% (IQR 54.5%-96.2%) of the time on ventilator in the ICU; plateau pressure was below 30 cm H2O in 125 (80.6%) patients; prone positioning was used in 44.7% of patients. In ICU, 169 of 774 (21.8%) patients experienced barotrauma and 220 (28.4%) prolonged ventilation. At 90 days, 306 (39.5%) had died.ConclusionsLung protective ventilation and prone positioning were used in many of the Danish ICU patients with COVID-19, but barotrauma, prolonged ventilation and death occurred frequently.© 2025 Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation.

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