Surfactant Depletion Combined with Injurious Ventilation Results in a Reproducible Model of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

A combination of surfactant washout using 0.9% saline (35 mL/kg body weight, 37 °C) and high tidal volume ventilation with low PEEP to cause moderate ventilator induced lung injury (VILI) results in experimental acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This method provides a model of lung injury with low/limited recruitability to study the effect of various ventilation strategies for extended periods.