Predicted Body Weight + ARDSnet Tidal Volume
Predicted body weight (Devine) and ARDSnet lung-protective tidal-volume target (default 6 mL/kg PBW, range 4-8).
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Height
- 175 cm
- Sex
- Male
- Target Vt
- 6 mL/kg PBW
Result: PBW ~70.5 kg, target Vt ~423 mL.
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What you enter
- Height
- Sex
- Target Vt
What this is
Compute Devine predicted body weight (PBW) from height and sex - 50 kg for men plus 2.3 kg per inch over 60 inches, 45.5 kg for women plus the same per-inch increment - and convert it into the ARDSNet lung-protective tidal-volume target at 4-8 mL/kg PBW (default 6 mL/kg, the trial's primary arm). Sophie Well returns the PBW in kilograms and the Vt target range in millilitres so a respiratory therapist or intensivist can verify the ventilator setting at the bedside.
When to use it
Use this on every mechanically ventilated patient with ARDS, suspected ARDS, or any acute hypoxemic respiratory failure where lung-protective ventilation is the standard of care - which, since the 2000 ARDSNet trial, is most of them. The trial showed an absolute mortality reduction with 6 mL/kg PBW versus 12 mL/kg PBW; using actual body weight in an overweight patient routinely produces injurious tidal volumes. The number is also worth checking on transport or after a vent swap. PBW does not account for amputation, severe kyphoscoliosis, or pregnancy; adjust clinically in those settings.
How this is calculated
ARDSNet. Lower tidal volumes for ARDS. NEJM 2000;342:1301-1308. PBW per Devine 1974. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.