In medicine, mechanical ventilation is a method to mechanically assist or replace spontaneous breathing.
This may involve a machine called a ventilator or the breathing may be assisted by a physician or other suitable person compressing a bag or set of bellows. Traditionally divided into negative-pressure ventilation, where air is essentially sucked into the lungs, or positive pressure ventilation, where air (or another gas mix) is pushed into th...
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In medicine, mechanical ventilation is a method to mechanically assist or replace spontaneous breathing.
This may involve a machine called a ventilator or the breathing may be assisted by a physician or other suitable person compressing a bag or set of bellows. Traditionally divided into negative-pressure ventilation, where air is essentially sucked into the lungs, or positive pressure ventilation, where air (or another gas mix) is pushed into the trachea.
It can be used as a short term measure, for example during an operation or critical illness (often in the setting of an intensive care unit). It may be used at home or in a nursing or rehabilitation institution if patients have chronic illnesses that require long-term ventilatory assistance.
Owing to the anatomy of the human pharynx,larynx and oesophagus and the circumstances for which ventilation is required then additional measures are often required to "secure" the airway during positive pressure ventilation to allow unimpeded...
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