Complications of acute respiratory failure.

Many complications can occur during the management of acute respiratory failure and may involve multiple organs. Some of these complications can be avoided by preventive measures. We find evaluation of serial chest roentgenograms extremely useful for the early detection of several complications (figure 4). In addition, prophylactic use of heparin to prevent pulmonary emboli, prophylactic antacid or cimetidine therapy to prevent gastric bleeding, careful monitoring of renal function, appropriate measures to reduce the incidence of colonization and nosocomial infection, and early recognition of nosocomial infections are some of the measures essential to increased survival of patients with acute respiratory failure.