Moderate and prolonged hypercapnic acidosis may protect against ventilator-induced diaphragmatic dysfunction in healthy piglet: an in vivo study

Two groups of anesthetized piglets were ventilated during a 72-hour period. Piglets were assigned to the Normocapnia group (n = 6), ventilated in normocapnia, or to the Hypercapnia group (n = 6), ventilated with moderate hypercapnic acidosis (PaCO2 from 55 to 70 mm Hg) during the 72-hour period of the study. Every 12 hours, we measured transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) after bilateral, supramaximal transjugular stimulation of the two phrenic nerves to assess in vivo diaphragmatic contractile force. Pressure/frequency curves were drawn after stimulation from 20 to 120 Hz of the phrenic nerves. The protocol was approved by our institutional animal-care committee.Moderate and prolonged hypercapnic acidosis was well tolerated during the study period. The baseline pressure/frequency curves of the two groups were not significantly different (Pdi at 20 Hz, 32.7 ± 8.7 cm H2O, versus 34.4 ± 8.4 cm H2O; and at 120 Hz, 56.8 ± 8.7 cm H2O versus 60.8 ± 5.7 cm H2O, for Normocapnia and Hypercapnia groups, respectively). After 72 hours of ventilation, Pdi decreased by 25% of its baseline value in the Normocapnia group, whereas Pdi did not decrease in the Hypercapnia group.Moderate and prolonged hypercapnic acidosis limited the occurrence of VIDD during controlled mechanical ventilation in a healthy piglet model. Consequences of moderate and prolonged hypercapnic acidosis should be better explored with further studies before being tested on patients.Mechanical ventilation is a lifesaving technique and a leading treatment of acute respiratory failure in the intensive care unit (ICU). In the earliest stages of acute respiratory failure, maintaining respiratory muscles at rest, in particular the diaphragm, is frequently performed, the better to synchronize the patient and the ventilator. The ventilator settings often use a totally controlled mode and are combined with deep sedation to avoid spontaneous ventilator cycles. One of the consequences of resting respiratory muscles is the occ