Ventilatory parameters in distressed pregnant women of the province of Matanzas in the period January 2006-May 2008

Abstract

Although the occurrence of the syndrome of acute respiratory difficulty/acute pulmonary damage during pregnancy is infrequent, its lethality is high and it has been reported as an important factor in maternal mortality. Therefore, an observational, analytic, cross-sectional study was carried out in the universe of 17 pregnant women who entered the intensive care services of the hospitals where this kind of cases are treated in the province: Teaching Territorial Hospital Julio M. Arístegui Villamil, of Cardenas, and the University Clinical Surgical Hospital Comandante Faustino Pérez, of Matanzas, presenting syndrome of acute respiratory difficulty/acute pulmonary damage, during the period from January 1 st 2006 to May 31 st 2008, with the objective of investigating the clinical and ventilatory aspects of the respiratory distress in critical pregnant women. The clinical records and the necropsy protocols of the deceased ones were the instrument for data collection. We studied clinical and ventilatory variables. The statistic processing was made in the program EPINFO 06. We determined percentages, average and standard deviation with a confidence interval of 95 % and a statistic significance of P < 0, 05. Among the main results we can call attention to: the predominance of the patients with syndrome of acute respiratory difficulty over those who presented acute pulmonary damage; the mechanical ventilation usage based on the principles of the protective ventilation; the usage of low positive end/expiratory pressure (PEEP) values in most of the cases; the higher positive end/expiratory pressure values in patients with direct pulmonary damage; the tidal volume (Vt) stayed the same.