Males Receive Low-Tidal Volume Component of Lung Protective Ventilation More Frequently than Females in the Emergency Department

摘要

Introduction: Mechanical ventilation is a commonly performed procedure in the emergency department (ED). Approximately 240,000 patients per year receive mechanical ventilation in the ED representing 0.23% of ED visits. An ED-based trial published in 2017 showed that a bundle of interventions in mechanically ventilated patients, including low tidal volume ventilation, reduced the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome by nearly 50%. Prior literature has shown that as many as 40% of ED patients do not receive lung protective ventilation. Our goal was to determine whether differences exist between the percent of males vs females who are ventilated at ≥ 8 milliliters per kilogram (mL/kg) of predicted body weight. Methods: We conducted this study at Temple University Hospital, a tertiary care center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was a planned subgroup analysis of study looking at interventions to improve adherence to recommended tidal volume settings. We used a convenience sample of mechanically ventilated patients in our ED between September 1, 2017, and September 30, 2018. All adult patient 18 years old were eligible for inclusion in the study. Our primary outcome measure was the number of patients who had initial tidal volumes set at 8 mL/kg of predicted body weight. Our secondary outcome was the number of patients who had tidal volumes set at ≥ 8 mL/kg at 60 minutes after initiation of mechanical ventilation. Results: A total of 130 patients were included in the final analysis. We found that significantly more females were initially ventilated with tidal volumes ≥ 8 mL/kg compared to men: 56% of females vs 9% of males (p=0.001). Data was available for 107 patients (82%) who were in the ED at 60 minutes after initiation of mechanical ventilation. Again, a significantly larger percentage of females were ventilated with tidal volumes ≥ 8 mL/kg at 60 minutes: 56% of females vs 10% of males (p0.001). Conclusion: The vast majority of tidal volumes ≥ 8 mL/kg during mechanical ventilation occurs in females. We suggest that objective measurements, such as a tape measure and tidal volume card, be used when setting tidal volumes for all patients, especially females.