Medical hypotheses
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Respiratory muscle fatigue after prolonged mechanical ventilation of the lungs is a common occurrence. This is probably due to disuse atrophy. The standard technique used to overcome this problem is to gradually wean the patient from the respirator over the course of several days or weeks. ⋯ dependence on the respirator, length of intubation time, risk of complications and length of stay in the ICU would be considerably reduced.