Effect of Recruitment Maneuvers Plus Optimal PEEP Versus Optimal PEEP Alone in One Lung Ventilation

The intraoperative driving pressure (∆P) has been recently identified as the greater independent predictor of postoperative pulmonary complications after one lung ventilation (OLV). The application of a positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) level of 5 or 10 cmH2O has been shown to reduce the ∆P and the V/Q mismatch (Spadaro 2017); however, the "optimal" PEEP level able to minimize the ∆P may change significantly across patients. The aim of this study is to describe the optimal PEEP levels in patients undergoing thoracic surgery