ABSTRACT Mechanical ventilation and volutrauma: pros and cons of high lung volumes C. Pastore & F. Pirrone & S. Mazzola & M. G. Clement & M. Albertini Published online: 8 August 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008 Keywords Hypercapnia . Mechanical ventilation . Pig . Volutrauma Abbreviations ET-1 endothelin-1 EVLW extravascular lung water MMPs metalloproteinases NFkB nuclear factor kB V T tidal volume Introduction In anaesthetized animals, mechanical ventilation is normally applied with tidal volumes (V T ) from 10 to 15 ml/kg. This volumes are higher than those used with resting animals (7–8 ml/kg), but they are necessary to preserve physiological PaCO 2 and pH values. Nevertheless, ventilation with higher volumes, can cause lung parenchyma distension and damage both lung epithelium and endothelium, by increasing alveolus-capillary leakage, release of inflammatory mediators release and interstitial matrix degradation, due to matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-9 and MMP-2), ultimately leading to the irreversible destruction of pulmonary areas (Dreyfuss and Saumon 1998). However, the adoption of a lower V T , while reducing over-distension damages, can cause significant PaO 2 decrease and hypercapnia (Lang et al. 2006). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of high ventilation volumes in three groups of anaesthetized pigs and to compare them with ventilation strategy based on lower ventilation volumes. Vet Res Commun (2008) 32 (Suppl 1):S163–S165 DOI 10.1007/s11259-008-9112-4 C. Pastore : F. Pirrone : S. Mazzola : M. G. Clement : M. Albertini Department of Animal Pathology, Hygiene and Public Veterinary Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy C. Pastore (*) Dipartimento di Patologia Animale, Igiene e Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria, Sez. Biochimica e Fisiologia, Università di Milano, via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy e-mail: camilla.pastore@unimi.it