Objective:

To determine the relationship of driving pressure (DP) with mortality in patients under mechanical ventilation (MV) with COVID-19.

Material and methods:

Cohort study in patients with COVID-19 and MV from March to September 2020, two groups were compared, exposed (patients with DP greater than 13 cmH2O) and unexposed (patients with DP equal to or less than 13 cmH2O), age was analyzed, sex, hypertension (HT), diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), immunosuppression, and cardiovascular disease.

Results:

With a total of 90 patients, high DP was shown to be a risk factor for death (p = 0.000) as well as hypertension (p = 0.013) and immunosuppression (p = 0.040). In hypertensive patients, a DP of 10 cmH2O was found as a lung protection goal, which is related to the probability of dying in 49.6%, increasing to 89.6% when there is a DP of 13 cmH2O.

Conclusions:

80% of the population has a high risk of mortality when there is high DP, and an increase in mortality when associated with hypertension and immunosuppression. The most important result was the mortality ratio of DP in hypertensive patients.