WeanINg From Mechanical Ventilation for ARDS CovId-19 Patients Guided by Combined Thoracic UltraSound.

The most feared complication of COVID-19 infection is the occurrence of an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) that requires ICU admission and prolonged mechanical ventilation in more than 2% of the affected patients. Establishing the correct time to extubate mechanically ventilated patients is a crucial issue in the critical care practice. Delayed extubation has several consequences such as patient's mortality, health-care-related complications, neuropsychological adverse events. The aim of the INVICTUS study is to evaluate whether a CTUS-based MV weaning strategy could reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation of ARDS COVID-19 ICU patients by 72 hours, compared with usual medical care.