Supine chest compression: alternative to prone ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Prone ventilation is usually used for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. We applied an alternative method to prone position. We described 2 cases of trauma where prone position could not be done. Chest wall compression was performed by 2-kg weight in front of the chest wall bilaterally while the patient was in a supine position. Respiratory mechanics work to improve oxygenation almost as same as the mechanism proposed for prone position without any major adverse effects and serious complications. We suggest a larger randomized study to determine the efficacy and also to find out the optimum weight required to compress the chest.