The Conventional Modes of Mechanical Ventilation

The care of the patient in the ICU is, to say the least, extremely demanding. Mechanically ventilated patients are at high risk of mortality, not only from the primary condition for which they have been ventilated, but also from complications arising directly or indirectly from mechanical ventilation itself. Tech­niques for mechanically ventilating patients are even now evolving, and modes of ventilation are frequently chosen based not only on the lung pathology, hemodynamics, oxygenation, and lung mechanics, but also on clinician familiarity. It is generally accepted that current modes of mechanical ventilation are inadequate in many respects, and there is much room for improvement.