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Mechanical Power for Ventilatory Settings in Operating Room

Mechanical Power for Ventilatory Settings in Operating Room: a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
Not yet recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07620132
Acronym
IMPROVEIII
Enrollment
490
Registered
2026-06-02
Start date
2026-06-01
Completion date
2029-01-01
Last updated
2026-06-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Abdominal Surgery, Morality, Postoperative Pulmonary Complications, Postoperative Respiratory Failure

Keywords

Mechanical ventilation, Intubation, Mechanical power-guided ventilation, Laparoscopic or non-laparoscopic abdominal surgery, Intensive care unit

Brief summary

Postoperative respiratory failure (PRF) is a dreaded complication that imposes a significant burden through unplanned admission to the ICU, post discharge disability and mortality. Despite widespread implementation of intraoperative lung-protective ventilation strategies over the past decade, results remain inconsistent. Interventions targeting individual parameters like tidal volume or positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) have shown equivocal results. The use of high PEEP and recruitment maneuvers raises safety concerns by possible negative hemodynamic effects. Recent studies suggest that individualizing ventilation strategies based on mechanical power-a composite parameter integrating tidal volume, plateau pressure, PEEP, and ventilator frequency-may better predict and help prevent PRF, independently of patients' baseline respiratory system compliance. These studies identified this parameter as interventional targets to reduce lung injury during mechanical ventilation. However, no multicenter randomized controlled trial has been performed in the field of ventilatory settings titration during invasive mechanical ventilation in operating room. The investigators hypothesize that a ventilation strategy aimed at decreasing mechanical power will reduce the incidence of PRF and mortality in patients undergoing abdominal surgery, compared with a standard strategy using fixed tidal volume and PEEP

Detailed description

Postoperative respiratory failure (PRF) is a dreaded complication that imposes a significant burden through unplanned admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and post discharge disability. Respiratory failure evident by tracheal intubations 1 month following nonemergent, noncardiac surgeries has been associated with a nine-fold increase in mortality. Efforts to reduce the rates of PRF have incorporated intraoperative ventilation strategies as a central element, with lung-protective ventilation following recommendations for the ICU setting being broadly implemented over the past decade. Interventions targeting individual parameters like tidal volume have shown equivocal results. To summarize, two randomized clinical trials showed lung-protective ventilation with low tidal volume (VT) in addition to high positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and recruitment maneuver (RM) to prevent against postoperative pulmonary complications when compared with ventilation with high VT plus low PEEP without RM. Two other large, randomized trials found no benefit of high PEEP with RM compared with low PEEP without RM in this setting, suggesting that beneficial effects arise primarily from the use of low VT ventilation. Concerns have also been raised about possible negative hemodynamic effects of high PEEP and RMs in these studies. One size does not fit all. Individualized strategies are needed, such as ones using driving pressure (plateau pressure - PEEP), to perform PEEP titration. Using this calculated parameter, reduced incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications has been demonstrated in small randomized controlled trials, and not achieved in others. However, tidal volume and respiratory rate are also important parameters to limit ventilator induced injuries, and are not considered when assessing driving pressure. Mechanical power, a concept that in addition to tidal volume, plateau pressure and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) also integrates the ventilatory frequency, has been recently associated with a higher risk of PRF. This formula is now implemented in the most recent operating room ventilators, and used in routine by some teams, with lack of evidence showing an efficacy of this strategy to set ventilatory settings. Although it has become clear that high mechanical power identifies patients at risk of PRF both in the operating room and ICU, there is an ongoing debate about whether they are linked to PRF, or whether these parameters merely represent an epiphenomenon in patients with impaired respiratory system mechanics and elevated risk at baseline. Recently, several studies showed that high mechanical power was associated with PRF independent from patients' baseline respiratory system compliance. These studies identified this parameter as interventional targets to reduce lung injury during mechanical ventilation. However, no multicenter randomized controlled trial has been performed in the field of ventilatory settings titration during invasive mechanical ventilation in operating room. The investigators made the hypothesis that a strategy aimed at decreasing mechanical power (tidal volume, respiratory rate and PEEP individually titrated to minimize the mechanical power) will reduce PRF and mortality in patients undergoing abdominal surgery, when compared with that of a strategy of standard care (with fixed level of tidal volume and PEEP). The investigators expect decreased PRF and mortality rate in the group "mechanical power-guided ventilatory settings". The investigators also expect in this group reduced duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, reduced incidence of postoperative organ dysfunction, and reduced duration of hospital stay.

Interventions

PROCEDUREMechanical power-guided ventilatory strategy

1. Tidal volume 7ml/kg PBW and RR titrated for EtCO2 between 40-50mmHg. See calculated Mechanical power:0,049\*tidal volume\*RR\*driving pressure. 2. Set PEEP 15cmH2O and perform recruitment maneuver at 30cmH2O for 20s. Decrease PEEP from 15 by steps of 2cmH2O until the lower level of PEEP minimizing mechanical power. Note mechanical power. Stop maneuver and/or decrease level of PEEP if decrease\>20% of cardiac output during the maneuver, when compared to baseline. 3. Repeat this step using 9 ml/kg PBW and choose the optimal tidal volume with lowest mechanical power. During the surgery, adjust RR to maintain EtCO2 between 40-50mmHg, with an inspiratory-to-expiratory time ratio of 1:2 to 1:1, an end-inspiratory pause of 30%, an FiO2 adjusted to maintain SpO2≥94%. Recruitment maneuvers will be performed after intubation, in case of ventilator disconnection, coelioscopy insufflation, change of position, at the end of surgery, or if mechanical power \>30%.

PROCEDUREStandard fixed ventilatory settings

Tidal volume 7 ml/kg predicted body weight, calculated according to a predefined formula: 50+0.91 x (centimeters of height - 152.4) for males and 45.5+0.91 x (centimeters of height - 152.4) for females, fixed PEEP between 6 and 8 cmH20, recruitment maneuvers at the discretion of the physician. The respiratory rate will be adjusted to maintain end-tidal partial pressure of CO2 between 30 and 40 mmHg, a target reported to be used by approximately 90% of physicians according to a recent online survey administered to French anesthesiologists via the French Society of Anesthesia \& Intensive Care Medecine (SFAR), which will be published soon, with an inspiratory-to-expiratory time ratio of 1:2 to 1:1, an end-inspiratory pause of 30 %, and an FiO2 adjusted to maintain SpO2 ≥ 94%. Mechanical power will not be measured during the surgery to avoid any modification of the ventilatory setting by the physician in charge.

Sponsors

University Hospital, Montpellier
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

Blinding of the surgical team is not feasible due to the nature of the intervention (surgery). However, participants and outcome assessors responsible for evaluating study endpoints will remain blinded to treatment allocation.

Intervention model description

A multicenter randomized controlled trial, comparing two parallel groups, one with mechanical power-guided ventilatory settings (intervention group), the other with standard fixed ventilatory settings

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Adult (≥ 18 years) * Laparoscopic or non-laparoscopic abdominal surgery * With an expected duration of at least 2 hours

Exclusion criteria

* Patients already receiving mechanical ventilation \> 12 hours before surgery; * Chronic respiratory disease requiring oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation at home; * Undrained pneumothorax or subcutaneous emphysema; * Intracranial hypertension; * Patients for which death is deemed imminent and inevitable or patients with an underlying disease process with a life expectancy of less than 3 months; * Patients already enrolled in the IMPROVE III trial; * Pregnancy in progress or planned during the study period or breastfeeding women (Art. L1121-5 of the French Public Health Code); * Patients protected by law (Art. L1121-6 to L1121-8 of the French Public Health Code): Individuals deprived of their liberty by judicial or administrative decision, vulnerable persons, minors, adults under guardianship or curatorship; * Patients not covered by a French social security scheme and not benefiting from such a scheme; * Absence of free and informed oral consent from the patient before inclusion (except in emergency situation where the patient is unable to provide consent), or absence of written informed consent from his/her proxy if present in an emergency situation (except in life-threatening emergency, where inclusion without consent from the patient or his/her proxy is permitted), in which case consent will be obtained as soon as possible after inclusion.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Composite of postoperative respiratory failureUp to 12 hours after surgeryDefined as failure to wean from the ventilator within the first 12 hours after surgery
All-cause mortalityUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Defined as death from any cause occurring within 30 days following surgery. The time to death will be measured from the date of surgery to the date of death. Patients discharged from hospital alive before Day 30 or still alive at Day 30 will be considered censored at that time.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Severity of postoperative pulmonary complications following surgeryUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30The severity of pulmonary complications after surgery will be scored on a grade scale ranging from 0 to 4, with grade 0 representing the absence of any pulmonary complication and grades 1 through 4 representing successively the worse forms of pulmonary complications
Renal dysfunction following surgeryUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Postoperative renal dysfunction will be assessed using the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Acute Kidney Injury Classification, based on serum creatinine levels and urine output criteria. The KDIGO classification ranges from Stage 0 to Stage 3, where higher stages indicate more severe renal dysfunction (Stage 0 = no acute kidney injury; Stage 3 = most severe acute kidney injury). Renal dysfunction will be defined as KDIGO Stage 1 or higher.
Sepsis and septic shock following surgeryUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Will be evaluated after surgery, according to the last recommendations on sepsis and septic shock
Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA)At randomization (day 0), at Day 1, at Day 7The SOFA score will be collected at randomization, at Day 1, at Day 7 to evaluate the extent of organ dysfunction. The score includes six organ systems: respiratory, cardiovascular, hepatic, coagulation, renal, and neurological function. Each system is graded from 0 (normal function) to 4 (severe dysfunction) based on objective clinical or laboratory parameters. The Glasgow Coma Score will be excluded from the calculation
Ventilator-free days (VFDs)Up to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30A ventilator-free day is defined as the receipt as \< 2 hours of invasive mechanical ventilation or non-invasive mechanical ventilation (as curative therapy) within a 24-hour period
Duration of invasive mechanical ventilationUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Measured from the time of initiation of mechanical ventilation to the first tracheal extubation
Total duration of mechanical ventilationUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Total duration of invasive mechanical ventilation will be measured in days from the initiation of mechanical ventilation until final discontinuation during the follow-up period. All periods of invasive mechanical ventilation, including episodes requiring reintubation, will be included in the total duration calculation.
Time to successful tracheal extubationUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Successful extubation reflects both effective weaning from mechanical ventilation and the patient's ability to maintain adequate spontaneous breathing. it's defined as the interval from the time of initiation of mechanical ventilation to the tracheal extubation that is not followed by reintubation within 7 days
ICU-free daysUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Are defined as the number of days a patient is both alive and discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) during the first 30 days following surgery. Patients who die before ICU discharge will be assigned zero ICU-free days. The outcome will be censored at 30 days postoperatively or at the time of hospital discharge, whichever occurs first
Length of ICU stayUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Will be measured from the date of ICU admission to the date of discharge from the ICU. Patients who are still in ICU on day 30 will be considered censored at that time
Length of hospital stayUp to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Will be measured from the date of hospital admission to the date of discharge from the hospital. Patients who are transferred to another type of healthcare facility (e.g., rehabilitation center) before Day 30 will be considered as having been discharged from the hospital. Patients who are still in hospital on day 30 will be considered censored at that time
Time to death (or censoring)Up to 30 days after surgery, or by the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30Is defined as the time from the date of surgery to the occurrence of death. Data will be collected up to Day 30, or until the date of hospital discharge, if this occurs before Day 30. Patients who do not die during this period will be considered censored at that time

Contacts

CONTACTAudrey DE JONG, Pr
a-de_jong@chu-montpellier.fr04 67 33 72 71
CONTACTSamir JABER, Pr
s-jaber@chu-montpellier.fr04 67 33 72 71
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAudrey DEBRUS, Dr

University Hospital, Montpellier

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 3, 2026