Understanding Patient-Ventilator Asynchrony
People display normal variability in their breathing patterns even at rest. In contrast, although a necessary medical intervention, mechanical ventilation uses some sort of fixed parameter in almost all currently available modes. If the mechanical breath is delivered in a fashion that the patient doesn’t want or expect (too short, not enough flow, too long, etc.), asynchrony between the ventilator and the patient, discomfort, anxiety, and fatigue can result.([FOOTNOTE=De Wit M. Monitoring of patient ventilator interaction at the bedside. Respiratory Care. 2011;56(1):61-68.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])
Different types of asynchrony occur at different rates and may elicit different patient effects.([FOOTNOTE=Epstein SK. How often does patient-ventilator asynchrony occur and what are the consequences? Respiratory care. 2011;56(1):25-38.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) Studies evaluating the overall frequency of asynchronies found that 12-43% of patients exhibit asynchrony in greater than 10% of total breaths.([FOOTNOTE=Blanch L, Villagra A, Sales B, et al. Asynchronies during mechanical ventilation are associated with mortality. Intensive care medicine. 2015;41(4):633-641.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]),([FOOTNOTE=Vignaux L, Vargas F, Roeseler J, et al. Patient-ventilator asynchrony during non-invasive ventilation for acute respiratory failure: a multicenter study. Intensive care medicine. 2009;35(5):840-846.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) In these patients, improving patient-ventilator synchrony may potentially result in less anxiety and need for sedation.1
In patients undergoing pressure-support ventilation (PSV), a high number of asynchronous breaths is associated with an almost fivefold increase in ICU mortality,16 a greater than threefold increase in median duration of mechanical ventilation, and a greater than twofold increase in median hospital length of stay.([FOOTNOTE=de Wit M, Miller KB, Green DA, Ostman HE, Gennings C, Epstein SK. Ineffective triggering predicts increased duration of mechanical ventilation. Crit Care Med. 2009;37(10):2740-2745.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) Prolonged mechanical ventilation (≥ 21 days) has been shown to be associated with a 23% increase in daily average cost per patient and a 3.3 times higher hospital cost, while also accounting for a disproportionate consumption of healthcare resources.([FOOTNOTE=Loss SH, De Oliveira RP, Maccari JG, Savi A, Boniatti MM, Hetzel MP, et al. The reality of patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation: a multicenter study. Rev Bras Ter Intensiv. 2015;27:26–35.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=])