Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Ex Vivo Porcine Experimental Model for Studying and Teaching Lung Mechanics
Published on: April 19, 2024
Respiratory load compensation during mechanical ventilation--proportional assist ventilation with load-adjustable
Eumorfia Kondili1, George Prinianakis, Christina Alexopoulou
1Intensive Care Medicine Department, University Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, 711 10, Crete, Greece.
Rationale:
In mechanically ventilated patients respiratory system impedance may vary from time to time, resulting, with pressure modalities of ventilator support, in changes in the level of assistance. Recently, implementation of a closed-loop adjustment to continuously adapt the level of assistance to changes in respiratory mechanics has been designed to operate with proportional assist ventilation (PAV+).
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to assess, in critically ill patients, the short-term steady-state response of respiratory motor output to added mechanical respiratory load during PAV+ and during pressure support (PS).
Patients And Interventions:
In 10 patients respiratory workload was increased and the pattern of respiratory load compensation was examined during both modes of support.
Measurements And Results:
Airway and transdiaphragmatic pressures, volume and flow were measured breath by breath. Without load, both modes provided an equal support as indicated by a similar pressure-time product of the diaphragm per breath, per minute and per litre of ventilation. With load, these values were significantly lower (p<0.05) with PAV+ than those with PS (5.1+/-3.7 vs 6.1+/-3.4 cmH2O.s, 120.9+/-77.6 vs 165.6+/-77.5 cmH2O.s/min, and 18.7+/-15.1 vs 24.4+/-16.4 cmH2O.s/l, respectively). Contrary to PS, with PAV+ the ratio of tidal volume (VT) to pressure-time product of the diaphragm per breath (an index of neuroventilatory coupling) remained relatively independent of load. With PAV+ the magnitude of load-induced VT reduction and breathing frequency increase was significantly smaller than that during PS.
Conclusion:
In critically ill patients the short-term respiratory load compensation is more efficient during proportional assist ventilation with adjustable gain factors than during pressure support.
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