Respiratory Muscle Fatigue in Children

Abstract

The skeletal muscles are said to be fatigued when they fail to generate the required force. Although there is ample evidence indicating that the inspiratory muscles of humans and animals can be fatigued (for an elegant and comprehensive review, see Ref. 17), the precise nature of this phenomenon has not been established. Skeletal muscle fatigue can be central or peripheral. Peripheral fatigue can be subdivided into failure at the level of transmission (neuromuscular junction and muscle membrane) and failure of the contractile machinery. Although fatigue at the level of the central nervous system or of the neuromuscular junction can occur under certain conditions, fatigue in the contractile machinery appears to be more common (17). Some of the factors predisposing to inspiratory muscle fatigue are listed in Table 1.