Objectives Non-invasive ventilation treatment for patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is well documented. Communication with patients during treatment is inhibited because of the mask, the noise from the machine and patient distress. Assessing life expectancy and identifying end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease posed difficulties and caused doubt...

OBJECTIVES This paper provides a theoretical account of nurses' collaboration with patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during non-invasive ventilation treatment in hospital. BACKGROUND Despite strong evidence for the effect of non-invasive ventilation treatment, success remains a huge challenge. Nurse-patient collaboration may be vital for treatment tolerance and success. A be...

INTRODUCTION Nomenclature Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) refers to the provision of ventilatory support through the patient’s upper airway using a mask or similar device. This technique is distinguished from those which bypass the upper airway with a tracheal tube, laryngeal mask, or tracheostomy and are therefore considered invasive. In this document NIV refers to non-invasive positive pressur...

We read with great interest the paper by De Robertis and colleagues on non-invasive ventilation (NIV) published on the first issue of this Journal (1). The Authors discussed the rationale for an early NIV approach in non ICU settings and proposed organizational solutions to offer to a large population of patients NIV in a safe way under the supervision of a medical emergency team. In the last t...

Randomized controlled trials have confirmed the evidence and helped to define when and where non invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) should be the first line treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Noninvasive ventilation has its best indication in moderate-to-severe respiratory acidosis in patients with AECOPD. For this indication, studies conducte...

Anaesthesia and surgery induce major changes in respiratory function, in particular when the thorax or the upper abdomen are involved. Pulmonary volumes decrease, and atelectasis can develop. Postoperative pain and diaphragm dysfunction further worsen the respiratory function, contributing to the risk of acute respiratory failure. non-invasive ventilation proved to be beneficial in the postoper...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether there is a difference in required duration of non-invasive ventilation between continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) in the treatment of a heterogeneous group of emergency department (ED) patients suffering acute respiratory failure and the subgroup of patients with acute pulmonary oedema (APO). Secondary objecti...

One of the cornerstones of critical care medicine is support of the failing respiratory system. The 2 major components of managing respiratory failure are the acute intervention and the weaning process. Many of the studies to determine the optimal methods of ventilation and weaning have focused on non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation as an alternative to invasive ventilation, with various...

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is well established and increasingly used in routine clinical practice [1], either in the management of acute respiratory failure, where it has resulted in improved survival and reduced number of complications or in weaning from invasive ventilation in intensive care or highdependency units [2]. However, some concepts and techniques of NIV may be difficult to gras...