Which of the following is a treatment option for ARDS?

• A. CPAP
• B. Antibiotics as sole therapy
• C. Oral hydration therapy only
• D. Bronchodilator inhaler monotherapy

Answer: (A)

Continuous positive airway pressure helps keep the airways open and improves oxygenation by providing a steady pressure throughout the breathing cycle. In ARDS, alveoli become flooded or collapse, which hampers gas exchange and leads to severe hypoxemia. By increasing the mean airway pressure, CPAP helps recruit collapsed alveoli, reduces the shunt, and lowers the work of breathing, and it can be used without intubation in carefully selected patients who are stable and can protect their airway. This makes it a reasonable treatment option when trying to avoid invasive ventilation or as a bridge to more definitive care.

However, if oxygenation cannot be maintained or the patient starts to tire or deteriorate, invasive mechanical ventilation with lung-protective strategies is needed. Other options listed don’t address the underlying gas-exchange problem in ARDS: antibiotics alone treat infection but not the alveolar edema, oral hydration doesn’t correct hypoxemia, and a bronchodilator alone doesn’t resolve the alveolar flooding and inflammatory process.