Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a medical condition occurring in critically ill patients characterized by widespread inflammation in the lungs. ARDS is not a particular disease, rather it is a clinical phenotype which may be triggered by various pathologies such as trauma, pneumonia and sepsis. The hallmark of ARDS is diffuse injury to cells which form the alveolar barrier, surfactant dysfunction, activation of the innate immune response, and abnormal coagulation. In effect, ARDS results in impaired gas exchange within the lungs at the level of the microscopic alveoli.