key: cord-0894274-nou4i62w
authors: Futier, Emmanuel; Jaber, Samir; Joannes-Boyau, Olivier
title: Ventilating multiple patients on a single ventilator: Statement from the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine (SFAR)
date: 2020-05-04
journal: Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med
DOI: 10.1016/j.accpm.2020.04.014
sha: 3028e8435e3f4ad0ed753153709baae628527049
doc_id: 894274
cord_uid: nou4i62w

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There are certain situations in which ventilating two or more patients using a single ventilator could at least theoretically work well. This is most likely to be the case for patients with similar characteristics of the respiratory system (compliance and resistance) when mechanical ventilation is instituted and, most importantly, whom respiratory mechanics will remain unchanged until ventilators allowing individualised settings will become available.

Unfortunately, these conditions will presumably rarely be met in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), especially in the context of COVID-19 pneumonia where different patterns of presentation may be found 3 -Finally, there is also a theoretical risk of transmission of viral load as well as exchange of gas volume between patients due to the "Pendelluft" effect. 

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An Official American Thoracic Society/European Society of Intensive Care Medicine/Society of Critical Care Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline: Mechanical Ventilation in Adult Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Personalised mechanical ventilation tailored to lung morphology versus low positive end-expiratory pressure for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome in France (the LIVE study): a multicentre, single-blind, randomised controlled trial