[Monitoring of the respiratory muscle function during weaning from mechanical ventilation]

Early weaning and discontinuation of mechanical ventilation can help prevent respiratory muscle dysfunction in critically ill patients. Prolonged mechanical ventilation and failure to use adequate strategies to discontinue mechanical ventilation can even enhance and perpetuate respiratory muscle dysfunction. On the other hand, premature attempts to extubate may result in re-intubation due to respiratory failure and are associated with poor outcomes and high mortality rates of up to 30-50%. Therefore, accurate monitoring of the respiratory muscle function is a valuable tool for the clinician at the bedside to assess to optimal weaning strategy and, ideally, would predict either weaning failure or success. In this review, we briefly summarize the available techniques, measurements and equipment required for the monitoring of respiratory muscle function in the intensive care unit.