Increasing the inspiratory time and I:E ratio during mechanical ventilation aggravates Ventilator-induced lung injury in mice

Rationale: Lung protective ventilation in order to minimize ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) reduced mortality in ARDS. Besides limiting tidal volumes, avoiding high plateau pressures and applying adequate levels of positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP), adjustment of ventilatory pattern aiming at lung protective ventilation is not defined to date. Increasing the inspiratory time and thereby the inspiratory/expiratory ratio (I:E ratio) may improve oxygenation due to a prolonged gas exchange period, but may also be harmful as the absolute stress over time increases. We thus hypothesized that increasing ins…