Fig. 3

Plot of EELV changes at the three ventilation mode transitions. Ventral lung areas (left) and dorsal lung areas (right) show how the total ∆EELV change is proportionally distributed between the two regions at the corresponding ventilation mode transitions of ventilation. In addition to the boxplots, the change for each individual patient is plotted. To allow assignment over the course of individual study participants, the values are connected by gray lines. The values of the study population do not show a normal distribution. Due to statistical outliers, the median values are used as measure of location. The dorsal regions show an increase, which can be explained by the recruitment of atelectasis due to the onset of spontaneous breathing. Due to the loss of PEEP after termination of mechanical ventilation, the overdistension in the ventral lung regions decreases and thus the proportion of ∆EELV