Critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Forum
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Mechanical ventilation during acute respiratory failure in children is associated with development of ventilator-induced lung injury. Experimental models of mechanical ventilation that limit phasic changes in lung volumes and prevent alveolar overdistension appear to be less damaging to the lung. High-frequency oscillatory ventilation, using very small tidal volumes and relatively high end-expiratory lung volumes, provides a safe and effective means of delivering mechanical ventilatory support with the prospect of reducing the development of ventilator-induced lung injury. Despite theoretical advantages and convincing laboratory data, however, the use of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation in the paediatric population has not yet been associated with significant improvements in clinically significant outcome measures.
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Our objective was to determine the effect of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT) on outcome in patients without chronic respiratory failure. ⋯ VAT is associated with longer durations of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay in patients not suffering from chronic respiratory failure.