New modes of ventilation in paediatrics

Since its first extensive use during the polio epidemics of the 1950s, mechanical ventilation has proved to be of undoubted value in improving survival in many patients affected by severe respiratory failure of varying origin. In the last 25 years, artificial ventilation has tremendously improved the recovery of neonates, especially those born prematurely. However, mechanical ventilation can, in itself, result not only in pulmonary damage (interstitial emphysema, alveolar and bronchiolar damage, pneumothorax, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia) but also in damage to other organs, specifically when high FiO2 has been used (i.e., retrolental fibroplasia) [1–4].