Early detection of deteriorating ventilation: prevention is better than cure!

Excerpt

Mechanical ventilation represents a life-saving procedure, whose main purpose is to assist the respiratory pump to achieve an adequate pulmonary gas exchange, and should be conducted for the shortest possible period of time. Such assistance may be total, in cases of controlled mechanical ventilation, or partial, when patient and machine interact. Irrespective of the mode used, close monitoring of the effects of mechanical ventilation on oxygenation and CO₂ elimination is essential for guiding adjustments of ventilator settings. If protective mechanical ventilation strategies are applied, monitoring of gas exchange endpoints becomes even more important. The minimization of the mechanical stress to the lung parenchyma brings pH, pO₂, and pCO₂ up to their safety limits, and sudden deterioration of ventilation may cause harm. …