Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is rapidly gaining acceptance around the world as the preferred choice of treatment over invasive ventilation. NIV delivers effective therapy with less risk of infection and improved survival in patients with respiratory failure.1, 2, and 3
Goals and functions of NIV
Like all forms of mechanical ventilation, NIV has two key goals: to improve the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the patient's blood and the air in their lungs; and to support the work of breathing when the patient's own physiology cannot do this effectively. These are achieved without the loss of airway defence mechanisms and the swallowing function, which are associated with invasive ventilation.
The essential functions of NIV include:
delivering the right inspiratory and expiratory pressures to support the patient's ventilatory demand
enhancing alveolar ventilation
maintaining upper airway patency
recruiting collapsed alveoli
maintaining patient–ventilator synchrony
avoiding the complications associated with invasive applications
alleviating hypercapnic symptoms
improving the patient’s quality of life by day and their quality of sleep by night
Patient-ventilator synchrony plays a significant role in reducing the patient's work of breathing and optimising their comfort to achieve better patient acceptance and compliance for successful NIV.
