A structured narrative review of clinical and experimental studies of the use of different positive end‐expiratory pressure levels during thoracic surgery

Objectives This study aimed to present a review on the general effects of different positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) levels during thoracic surgery by qualitatively categorizing the effects into detrimental, beneficial, and inconclusive. Data source Literature search of Pubmed, CNKI, and Wanfang was made to find relative articles about PEEP levels during thoracic surgery. We used the following keywords as one-lung ventilation, PEEP, and thoracic surgery. Results We divide the non-individualized PEEP value into five grades, that is, less than 5, 5, 5-10, 10, and more than 10 cmH(2)O, among which 5 cmH(2)O is the most commonly used in clinic at present to maintain alveolar dilatation and reduce the shunt fraction and the occurrence of atelectasis, whereas individualized PEEP, adjusted by test titration or imaging method to adapt to patients' personal characteristics, can effectively ameliorate intraoperative oxygenation and obtain optimal pulmonary compliance and better indexes relating to respiratory mechanics. Conclusions Available data suggest that PEEP might play an important role in one-lung ventilation, the understanding of which will help in exploring a simple and economical method to set the appropriate PEEP level.