Introduction: Automated weaning systems may improve adaptation of mechanical support for a patient’s ventilatory needs and facilitate systematic and early recognition of their ability to breathe spontaneously and the potential for discontinuation of ventilation. Our objective was to compare mechanical ventilator weaning duration for critically ill adults and children when managed with automated...

Half the patients in an intensive care unit receive mechanical ventilation and almost half of intubated time is devoted to weaning. Accordingly, weaning constitutes an enormous workload for intensive care staff (1). Two deliberate steps are involved in weaning. First, patient readiness is tested with physiological measurements, usually called weaning predictors (2, 3). Second, the patient is ev...

Potentially harmful effects of positive pressure mechanical ventilation have been recognized since its inception in the 1950s. Since then, the risk factors for and mechanisms of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) have been further characterized. Publication of the ARDSnet tidal volume trial in 2000 demonstrated that a ventilator strategy limiting tidal volumes and plateau pressure in patient...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Mechanical ventilation is one of the most important life support tools in the ICU, but it may also be harmful by causing ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) and other deleterious effects. Advances in ventilator technology have allowed the introduction of numerous ventilator modes in an effort to improve gas exchange, reduce the risk of VILI, and finally improve outcome. In t...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW In intubated patients, mechanical ventilation offers essential ventilatory support, while the respiratory system recovers from acute respiratory failure. Yet, invasive mechanical ventilation is associated with risks and complications that prolong the duration of mechanical ventilation and increase the risk for death. Therefore, safely weaning the patient from the ventilator as...

Mechanical ventilation can be life-saving for patients with acute respiratory failure. In between the 2 extremes of complete and no ventilatory support, both patient and machine contribute to ventilatory work. Ideally, ventilator gas delivery would perfectly match patient demand. This patient-ventilator interaction depends on how the ventilator responds to patient respiratory effort and, in tur...

Graphical waveforms have become ubiquitous in clinical care. Using and understanding pictures and symbols is a daily activity. Humans are neurologically equipped to understand symbolic information and have done so for millennia. Cave drawings are examples of using images to convey information. The same approach used in understanding "art" is needed to use ventilator waveforms effectively. Didac...

Graphical waveforms have become ubiquitous in clinical care. Using and understanding pictures and symbols is a daily activity. Humans are neurologically equipped to understand symbolic information and have done so for millennia. Cave drawings are examples of using images to convey information. The same approach used in understanding “art” is needed to use ventilator waveforms effectively. Didac...