Effects of inflammatory factors including plasma tumor necrosis factor-α in the clinical treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The present study investigated the association between the levels of plasma tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fibrinogen levels of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with ARDS treatment outcome and duration of mechanical ventilation, with the aim of improving the efficacy of ARDS therapy. A total of 140 patients with ARDS were randomly divided into groups A and B, with 70 patients in each group. The patients in group A received a combination of conventional treatment and comprehensive treatment (test group) and the patients in group B were treated with conventional therapy only (control group). Elbow venous blood was obtained from each patient in the morning prior to treatment, on the 3rd day of treatment and on the 5th day of treatment. The levels of inflammatory factors, the clinical effects and the duration of mechanical ventilation of the two groups were statistically analyzed. The levels of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-8 in patients from group A were significantly reduced compared with those from group B (P<0.05). Additionally, the oxygenation index and arterial partial oxygen pressure of patients in group A were significantly higher compared with group B patients (P<0.05), the duration of mechanical ventilation of group A was decreased compared with that of group B (P<0.05) and the overall response rate of group A was >90%, whereas group B had a response rate of 80.0%. These results indicate that the treatment administered to patients in group A exhibited an improved clinical efficacy. The combination of comprehensive and conventional therapy may effectively reduce the levels of inflammatory factors and the inflammatory response, and these levels may be important for the effective treatment of ARDS and in reducing treatment duration. Therefore the current study may improve upon current clinical practice.