The authors concluded wide variations in experience and care provision infrastructures between countries (Fig. This study reviewed the usage of home mechanical ventilation in 329 centres in 16 European countries including more than 16509 patients. The epidemiology of home mechanical ventilation was described in the EuroVent study. Įven if this epidemiology study mainly considers intermediate care units and not home care, home-care environment as place of care has quickly moved towards Non-Invasive Ventilation use. This trend is described in the European survey of 2002: with improving patient status from the Intensive Care Unit to the Respiratory Intermediate Care Unit and the finally the Respiratory Monitoring Unit, more NIV is used. There is a trend changing towards Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV), especially in the intermediate care units and even more in the home environment. In the Intensive Care Unit, common Indications for ventilation were reviewed by an international group in 2000 , Mechanical ventilators should be adjusted to influence the breathing rate and tidal volume by taking into account patient’s physiology and interfaces’ dead space. The main objectives for mechanically ventilating a patient are to improve oxygenation, to increase or maintain minute ventilation, to help CO 2 clearance, yet by decreasing work of breathing and protecting the airways. MECHANICAL VENTILATION: FROM HOSPITAL TO HOME Healthcare infrastructure has to follow this trend in terms of cost savings versus hospital stays. Also, remote telemedicine has been raised as a potential solution for many years without yet overall acceptance due to legal, technical and ethical problems.īenefits of new technologies in respiratory support devices give the technical foundation for the transition from hospital to home and reducing patient/ventilator asynchronies. This logging might be beneficial for the caregiver to review and document the treatment and tune the settings to the patient’s need and comfort. In addition, manufacturers are developing tools to enhance the follow-up, remotely or offline, of the treatment by using embedded memory in the respiratory devices. Even though these ventilation modes have become more responsive to patient efforts, adversely they might lead to events such as false triggering, autotriggering, delayed triggering. Progress in technologies led to an improved handling of patient-device interaction: manufacturers are promoting new or improved ventilation modes or cycling techniques for better patient-ventilator coupling. Even if this move could be beneficial for the patient, the clinician ends up in a delicate situation where little or no direct supervision is possible on the delivered treatment. The introduction of reduced and more powerful electronics has allowed the transition of medical equipment such as respiratory support devices from the hospital to the patient’s home environment.

Ventilator graphics made easy pdf