In critically ill patients, corticosteroids may be provided to decrease the inflammation–coagulation–fibroproliferation observed during acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [[58], [59], [60], [61]]. A meta-analysis on corticosteroid use in ARDS including eight controlled studies reported a significant reduction in markers of systemic inflammation, pulmonary and extrapulmonary organ dysfunction scores, duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU length of stay [62]. A recent multicentre RCT included 277 patients with ARDS to assess the effects of dexamethasone treatment. Patients in the study arm received dexamethasone 20 mg once daily from day 1 to day 5, which was reduced to 10 mg once daily from day 6 to day 10. This study reported a significant reduction in duration of mechanical ventilation in the dexamethasone group than in the control group (between-group difference 4.8 days, p < 0.0001) and a significant reduction in mortality at 60 days (between-group difference −15.3%, p 0.0047). The proportion of adverse events did not differ significantly between the dexamethasone group and the control group [63].