• Sarah Heili-Frades, Fernando Suarez-Sipmann, Arnoldo Santos, Maria Pilar Carballosa, Alba Naya-Prieto, Carlos Castilla-Reparaz, Maria Jesús Rodriguez-Nieto, Nicolás González-Mangado, and German Peces-Barba.
• Intermediate Respiratory Care Unit, Pulmonology Department, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, UAM, CIBERES, Madrid, Spain.
• Crit Care. 2019 May 29; 23 (1): 192.

BackgroundQuantification of intrinsic PEEP (PEEPi) has important implications for patients subjected to invasive mechanical ventilation. A new non-invasive breath-by-breath method (etCO2D) for determination of PEEPi is evaluated.MethodsIn 12 mechanically ventilated pigs, dynamic hyperinflation was induced by interposing a resistance in the endotracheal tube. Airway pressure, flow, and exhaled CO2 were measured at the airway opening. Combining different I:E ratios, respiratory rates, and tidal volumes, 52 different levels of PEEPi (range 1.8-11.7 cmH2O; mean 8.45 ± 0.32 cmH2O) were studied. The etCO2D is based on the detection of the end-tidal dilution of the capnogram. This is measured at the airway opening by means of a CO2 sensor in which a 2-mm leak is added to the sensing chamber. This allows to detect a capnogram dilution with fresh air when the pressure coming from the ventilator exceeds the PEEPi. This method was compared with the occlusion method.ResultsThe etCO2D method detected PEEPi step changes of 0.2 cmH2O. Reference and etCO2D PEEPi presented a good correlation (R2 0.80, P < 0.0001) and good agreement, bias - 0.26, and limits of agreement ± 1.96 SD (2.23, - 2.74) (P < 0.0001).ConclusionsThe etCO2D method is a promising accurate simple way of continuously measure and monitor PEEPi. Its clinical validity needs, however, to be confirmed in clinical studies and in conditions with heterogeneous lung diseases.

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