Relationship between PaO2 and lung volume during high frequency oscillatory ventilation.

The relationship between oxygenation and lung volume during high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) was studied. We ventilated anesthetized, tracheostomized adult rabbits that were rendered surfactant-deficient by lung lavage. Lung volume was measured by the 'disconnection technique'. In the first experiment, HFOV was commenced after conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) for 1 hr. In the absence of sustained inflation (SI), oxygenation improved with time during HFOV. In the second experiment, HFOV was instituted after CMV for 4 hr. In the absence of SI, all animals expired during the experimental period. In the third experiment we ventilated rabbits for 4 hr and then switched to HFOV. We applied SI first and increased mean airway pressure (MAP) by increments of 2 cmH2O every 15 min. However, there was little improvement in PaO2 despite the use of repeated SI and the increase in MAP. We conclude that oxygenation has a linear relationship to lung volume during HFOV, and that secondary lung injury due to long-term CMV impairs the response to HFOV. Therefore, it is important to minimize the risk of such secondary injuries before instituting HFOV.