Although life-saving, mechanical ventilation is associated with numerous complications. These include pneumonia, cardiovascular compromise, barotrauma, and ventilator-induced lung injury. Recent data from animal studies suggest that controlled mechanical ventilation can cause dysfunction of the diaphragm, decreasing its force-generating capacity--a condition referred to as ventilator-induced di...

Background: The prolonged mechanical ventilation among cardiac surgery patients has been correlated with negative clinical outcome and increased healthcare resources utilization. The aim of this study was to identify the risk preoperative and intraoperative factors for increased ventilation among cardiac operated patients. Method and Material: An observational cohort study was carried out durin...

RATIONALE Prolonged controlled mechanical ventilation results in diaphragmatic inactivity and promotes oxidative injury, atrophy, and contractile dysfunction in this important inspiratory muscle. However, the impact of controlled mechanical ventilation on global mRNA alterations in the diaphragm remains unknown. OBJECTIVES In these experiments, we used an Affymetrix oligonucleotide array to i...

Despite application of preventive measures in bundles, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) remains the most common nosocomial infection, leading to increases in mechanical ventilation duration, ICU stay and healthcare costs [1]. Although two meta-analyses report a half reduction of VAP following use of endotracheal tubes (ETTs) with subglottic secretion drainage (SSD) [2], these devices are n...

administration of endotracheal surfactant is potentially the main treatment for neonates suffering from rds (respiratory distress syndrome), which is followed by mechanical ventilation. late and severe complications may develop as a consequence of using mechanical ventilation. in this study, conventional methods for treatment of rds are compared with surfactant administration, use of mechanical...

Accumulating evidence indicates that diaphragmatic weakness is common and frequently severe in mechanically ventilated patients. Supinski and Callahan now report that infection is a major risk factor for diaphragmatic weakness in this patient population. Importantly, they show that patients with the greatest levels of diaphragmatic dysfunction have a much poorer prognosis in terms of more prolo...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical relevance of the weaning from mechanical ventilation classification system derived from the 2005 international consensus conference, in patients who receive mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours, and evaluate its correlation with prognosis. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a 12-bed intensive care unit (ICU) in a teaching hospital....

Most patients who require mechanical ventilation for longer than 24 hours, and who improve the condition leading to the indication of ventilatory support, can be weaned after passing a first spontaneous breathing test. The challenge is to improve the weaning of patients who fail that first test. We have methods that can be referred to as traditional, such as the T-tube, pressure support or sync...