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Intensive Care Medicine pp 359–371Cite as

Variable Mechanical Ventilation: Breaking the Monotony

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Abstract

Healthy biological systems are characterized by intrinsic variability of their function even during conditions of apparent steady state, i.e., conditions that do not require major adaptation to the external environment. The most impressive example is the heart, exhibiting large variability of cardiac rhythm over short and long time scales at rest [1]. The respiratory system behaves similarly, with fluctuations of respiratory rate and/or tidal volumes observed in resting subjects [2, 3]. Such intrinsic variability, however, can be diminished or even abolished in diseased biological systems. For instance, heart rate variability may be impaired in patients with coronary heart disease even before symptoms appear [4]. A decrease of variability in respiratory rate and/or tidal volumes has been also reported in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [5] and in those who failed to wean from mechanical ventilation [6]. In addition, the use of sedative drugs, which is commonly required during mechanical ventilation, may impair the natural variation of the respiratory pattern [7].

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany

    M. Gama de Abreu & P. M. Spieth

  2. Department of Ambient Health and Safety Service of Anesthesia B Ospedale di Circolo, University of Insubria, Viale Borri 57, 21100, Varese, Italy

    P. Pelosi

Authors
  1. M. Gama de Abreu
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  2. P. M. Spieth
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  3. P. Pelosi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care Erasme Hospital, Universitée libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, B-1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent (Head) (Head)

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Gama de Abreu, M., Spieth, P.M., Pelosi, P. (2009). Variable Mechanical Ventilation: Breaking the Monotony. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92278-2_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92278-2_35

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-92277-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-92278-2

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