Inappropriate ventilator triggering caused by an in-line suction catheter
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 1, 2026

Surfactant Depletion Combined with Injurious Ventilation Results in a Reproducible Model of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
Published on: April 7, 2021
Ali Al-Khafaji1, Harold L Manning
1Department of Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756-0001, USA.
Objective:
To examine the phenomenon of inappropriate triggering caused by an in-line suction catheter.
Design:
We used a test lung to assess inappropriate triggering in four ventilators with both pressure and flow triggering.
Results:
With pressure triggering, inappropriate triggering occurred only in the presence of PEEP. However, with flow triggering, inappropriate triggering occurred both with and without PEEP. Inappropriate triggering did not occur in a model of severe airflow obstruction.
Conclusion:
In-line suction catheters may lead to inappropriate triggering and potentially dangerous increases in delivered ventilation.
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