Commentary Lost in translation? The pursuit of lung-protective ventilation

Acute lung injury (ALI) and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remain important causes of morbidity and mortality in the critically ill patient, with far-reaching short-term and long-term implications for individual patients and for healthcare providers. It is well accepted that mechanical ventilation can worsen lung injury, potentially worsening systemic organ function, and can thus impact on mortality in acute lung injury (ALI)/ARDS. Unfortunately, although the concept of minimizing such damage via lungprotective ventilatory strategies is widely acknowledged, effective integration of such an approach into clinical practice remains more elusive. The study by the Irish Critical Care Trials Group published in the previous edition of Critical Care describes a 10-week reallife survey of all intensive care unit admissions across Ireland, detailing for the first time the epidemiology of ALI/ARDS in this