Mechanical ventilation

Article
2021-02-04

You may be given mechanical ventilation if a condition makes it very difficult for you to breathe or get enough oxygen into your blood. This condition is called respiratory failure. Mechanical breathers are machines that act like bellows to move air in and out of your lungs. Your respiratory therapist and doctor have set up the ventilator to determine how often it blows air into your lungs and how much air you get.

You may be wearing a mask to get air from the ventilator into your lungs. Or you may need a breathing hose if your breathing problem is more serious.

Mechanical ventilations are mainly used in hospitals and in transport systems such as ambulances and MEDEVAC air transport etc. In some cases they can be used at home, if the illness is protracted and the caregivers receive training at home and sufficient nursing and other resources in the house. If you are on a ventilator, you may become more prone to pneumonia, damage to your vocal cords, or other problems.

Who Needs a Ventilator? - Ventilator / ventilator support

You may need a ventilator in an emergency if a condition makes it difficult to breathe on your own (called respiratory failure). You may also need a ventilator during surgery.

Respiratory failure

Respiratory failure can be a life-threatening emergency. If you can't breathe properly, your organs can't get enough oxygen to work. Sometimes too much carbon dioxide, a waste gas from the cells of your body, can build up in your blood. This must be exhaled.

Many conditions and injuries can affect your breathing. Examples are:

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
Head injury or stroke
Asthma
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or other lung diseases
Drug overdose
Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome, these are respiratory problems that affect newborns, especially premature babies.
Pneumonia
S epsis, an infection in your bloodstream
Spinal cord injury, polio, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) external link, myasthenia gravis external link, and other diseases or factors affecting the nerves and muscles involved in breathing
Sudden cardiac arrest

Surgery

You may need a ventilator if you are going to have surgery under general anesthesia (a medicine that makes you sleepy and does not hurt). The drugs used for anesthesia can affect your normal breathing. A ventilator helps control your breathing.

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