Protective Mechanical VENTilation Strategy in Patients Undergoing CARDiac Surgery

Heart surgery is a life-saving intervention for hundreds of thousands of patients each year worldwide. Advances in technology and medical expertise have improved outcomes for these patients over the years. However, despite such advances, approximately 30% of patients develop lung complications (also called "pulmonary complications") after heart surgery, which result in prolonged hospital stay, increased mortality and healthcare costs. During and immediately after heart surgery, the patient's breathing needs to be artificially controlled by a breathing machine, called "mechanical ventilator". The medical literature has reported that in critically ill patients the use of specific settings on the breathing machine (so called "protective mechanical ventilation") prevents lung complications and significantly decreases mortality. Studies show that such settings could also be beneficial for patients that undergo several types of planned surgery, however data regarding heart surgery patients (the most vulnerable to lung complications) are lacking.The aim of our study is to test whether the use of protective mechanical ventilation settings during and after heart surgery reduces lung complications compared to the current standard of care. The main innovation of this study is the application of a novel protective mechanical ventilation strategy to patients undergoing cardiac surgery, in order to reduce post-operative pulmonary complications.