Effects of Conventional Mechanical Ventilation Performed by Two Neonatal Ventilators on the Lung Functions of Rabbits with Meconium-Induced Acute Lung Injury

Severe meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) in the neonates often requires a ventilatory support. As a method of choice, a conventional mechanical ventilation with small tidal volumes (VT<6 ml/kg) and appropriate ventilatory pressures is used. The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term effects of the small-volume CMV performed by two neonatal ventilators: Aura V (Chirana Stara Tura a.s., Slovakia) and SLE5000 (SLE Ltd., UK) on the lung functions of rabbits with experimentally-induced MAS and to estimate whether the newly developed neonatal version of the ventilator Aura V is suitable for ventilation of the animals with MAS