Introduction

Ideal body weight calculation is used in critical medicine for drug dosing and setting ventilation parameters. However, the suggested and used equations were designed on the basis of anthropometric variables that do not represent the Latin American population.

Objective

To map and present the current evidence on the equations used to calculate ideal weight in patients on mechanical ventilation in intensive care units in Latin America.

Material and Methods

Exploratory review using the Joanna Briggs Institute method conceived by Arskey / O'Malley. A search was performed in the BVS, LILLACS, REDALYC, Ovid, Google Scholar and Scielo databases using keywords and MeSH terms in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, with no time limitation. The results are presented in descriptive tables.

Results

Overall, 1126 studies were identified and 1120 were excluded; 6 studies were reviewed and 3 additional studies were identified through a manual search. The studies were published in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. In 89%, the ARDS Network equation was used to calculate tidal volume. Acute respiratory distress syndrome was the most reported pathology (33%).

Conclusions

Adult intensive care units in Latin America use the equation suggested by the ARDS Network, which was designed in a population with different anthropometric characteristics.

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