Khan F H.
Acute Lung Injury/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
J Pak Med Assoc Jan ;52(7):323-28.

ALI/ARDS is a complex response of the lung to direct and indirect insults. Treatment of ALI/ ARDS is mainly supportive at the moment. Ventilatory management is the mainstay of supportive therapy and many new ventilatory strategies have been proposed. Attention has been turned to prevention of iatrogenic lung damage by use of pressure controlled ventilation and permissive hypercapnia, thus limiting the rise in peak airway pressure. For those with refractory hypoxaemia, inverse ratio ventilation, use of nitric oxide and prone position do offer some improvement in oxygenation. Most of the deaths in patients with ALI/ARDS is secondary to multiple organ failure. There is therefore a need to evolve strategies to prevent the development of non- pulmonary organ dysfunction in these patients.

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