A ventilator is a medical gear that helps you breathe when you have trouble breathing on your own.
A ventilator may be needed when an injury or an illness like COVID-19 impairs your lung function.
Ventilators are also used to help you breathe during surgery.
Robert Daly / Caiaimage / Getty Images
When Is a Ventilator Needed?
A ventilator helps support a person with impaired lung function during the recovery process.
It delivers oxygen through a tube inserted through the mouth and into the windpipe.
Verywell / Joshua Seong
In people with ARDS, the air sacs in the lungs fill with fluid, making breathing difficult.
COVID-19 patients may need supplemental oxygen when their oxygen saturation falls below 90%.
This does not always mean mechanical ventilation.
During Surgery
General anesthesialowers the level of a patient’s consciousness during surgery.
This includes the muscles that allow us to inhale and exhale.
Without a ventilator, breathing during general anesthesia would not be possible.
Most people are on the ventilator while the surgery is taking place.
A drug is given after the operation is complete to stop the effects of the anesthesia.
This can also happen due to trauma, infection, or another serious medical problem.
Some surgeries require a person to be on a ventilator for a short time after surgery.
This tube has a small inflatable gasket that is inflated to hold the tube in place.
The ventilator is attached to the tube and provides breaths to the person needing respiratory assistance.
If a ventilator is needed after surgery, a sedative may be used to relax the person.
These individuals are almost always in anintensive care unit (ICU)and require constant monitoring and attention.
Tape or a strap is used to keep the endotracheal tube in place.
Mouth care is also frequently performed.
Oral secretions are also suctioned from the mouth to prevent them from draining into the lungs and causing pneumonia.
Extubation
Extubationis the process of having the endotracheal tube removed.
The tube is then gently pulled from the persons mouth or nose.
Once the tube is removed, the person is able to breathe on their own.
Many, however, are given oxygen through a mask or nasal cannula to help transition to normal breathing.
Extubation may cause coughing orsore throatbut is not typically painful.
Weaning
Weaning is the term used for the process of decreasing ventilatory support.
Most surgery patients are removed from the ventilator quickly and easily.
Those who cannot be may require weaning.
This may take place over the course of days or even weeks.
This allows the person to rest comfortably at night without having to work to breathe.
CPAP is also the setting that allows doctors to determine if a person no longer needs mechanical ventilation.
This trial period is often referred to as the CPAP trial.
It can also make ventilator weaning more difficult.
One end of the tube is inserted through the opening, while the other is connected to a ventilator.
People who require long-term mechanical ventilation are often transferred to a long-term acute care facility.
The angle aligns the trachea and allows for smooth passage of thelaryngoscopeand breathing tube.
Ahmed SM, Athar M.Mechanical ventilation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma.Indian J Anaesth.
2015;27(1).
