Prone positioning in acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The ultimate efficacy of prone positioning in ARDS is difficult to evaluate because of heterogeneous study populations, the variances in the duration of the prone position, and the small sample sizes used in most studies. Prone positioning offers an easy, readily available treatment option for refractory hypoxemia. Although there is a rationale supporting the hypothesis that prone ventilation could reduce the mortality of ARDS patients, currently there are insufficient clinical data to support this hypothesis.