Patient-ventilator interaction: The last 40 years

Abstract

Patient-ventilator synchrony is a complex issue affected by ventilator performance, patient characteristics, and the patient-ventilator interface. The history of patient-ventilator interaction includes avoidance of pharmacalogic paralysis, the development of spontaneous breathing systems, microprocessor technology to maximize interaction, and closed-loop control. While most clinicians agree that patientventilator synchrony is desirable, there remain no cause-and-effect data that asynchrony is associated with poor outcome. © 2011 Daedalus Enterprises.