Lavage-induced Surfactant Depletion in Pigs As a Model of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

Repeated pulmonary lavages in anesthetized pigs induce lung injury resembling major aspects of human acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). For this purpose the lungs are repeatedly lavaged with 0.9% saline at 37 °C. The goal of the protocol is a reproducible mitigation of gas exchange and hemodynamics for research in ARDS.