RELEASE

Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV) vs conventional ventilation for patients with moderate to severe acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (RELEASE).

Access our trial protocol here: RELEASE Protocol V3.0 26 Mar 2025Link opens in a new window

Approximately 130,000 adults are admitted to critical care units (CCUs) in the UK each year, 40-45% of whom require invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) is the most common reason for IMV and is associated with serious morbidity and a mortality which remains high at ~40%. Although lifesaving, IMV can cause additional lung injury (termed ventilator induced lung injury - VILI).

Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV) is a method of IMV which uses longer inspiration times followed by a brief expiration. The longer inspiration time enables alveolar recruitment and oxygenation while the short expiration time maintains lung volume. This reduces shear-stress damage to the alveoli, whilst maintaining adequate ventilation.

RELEASE aims to investigate, using a multi-centre, parallel group, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial design, the clinical and cost effectiveness of early APRV compared to conventional lung protective invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in patients with moderate-severe acute hypoxic respiratory failure (AHRF).

We aim to recruit 710 participants.

The total planned project duration is 52 months. Recruitment is anticipated to commence October 2024 for 32 months.