OBJECTIVETo systematically assess the clinical efficacy of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) and conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) for treating pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

METHODSData from randomized controlled trials comparing HFOV and CMV in the treatment of pediatric ARDS published before July 2016 were collected from the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Medline, CNKI, and Wanfang Data. Literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed by two independent reviewers according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected studies were then subjected to a Meta analysis using the RevMan 5.3 software.

RESULTSA total of 6 studies involving 246 patients were included. The results of the Meta analysis showed that there were no significant differences between the HFOV and CMV groups in the in-hospital or 30-day mortality rate, incidence of barotrauma, mean ventilation time, and oxygenation index (P>0.05). However, compared with CMV, HFOV increased the PaO/FiOratio by 17%, 24%, and 31% at 24, 48, and 72 hours after treatment respectively, and improved oxygenation in patients.

CONCLUSIONSAlthough the mortality rate is not reduced by HFOV in children with ARDS, this treatment can result in significant improvement in oxygenation compared with CMV. Further large-sample, multicenter, randomized clinical trials will be required to draw a definitive conclusion.