Clinical use of differential continuous positive airway pressure in the treatment of unilateral acute lung injury.

In some instances of unilateral acute lung injury (ALI) refractory to conventional ventilatory support, the intact lung is still able to ensure an efficient CO2 washout, the concomitant hypoxaemia being due to the loss of volume of the injured parenchyma. In these cases, the administration of a sufficient selective continuous distending pressure by means of differential continuous positive airway pressure may restore to normal the resting volume and thus the ventilatory performance of the affected lung, contemporarily avoiding the occurrence of pulmonary and systemic barotrauma.