Abstract
This book is intended mostly for anesthesiologists and intensive care and emergency care medicine specialists, but the book may be also a valuable reference for other medical specialities involved in the care of mechanically ventilated patients, mainly internal medicine specialists, cardiologists, pneumologist and general surgeons, cardiac surgeons and neurosurgeons. Most parts of this book may be also useful for nurses and other health care persons working in the operating theatre, postoperative care units and intensive care units.
This book comprises fifteen chapters. The first chapter traces the history of mechanical breathing.
The following chapter named Essential principles of mechanical ventilation reviews the theoretical background of mechanical ventilation, its complications and provides a detailed overview of mechanisms and consequences of ventilator-induced and ventilator-associated lung injury. The following chapters are dedicated to ventilatory modes, positive end-expiratory pressure, structure of ventilators and management of airways.
Respiratory system monitoring in ventilated patients is reported in detail. Significant facets of mechanical ventilation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, circulatory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome, non-invasive ventilatory support, weaning from mechanical ventilation and also prevention, diagnosis and treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia are reviewed in the succeeding chapters.
New chapters on mechanical ventilation during anesthesia and on rescue therapies in patients with a refractory lung failure were included in the third edition of this book.