Basic principles of respiratory function monitoring in ventilated newborns: A review

Respiratory monitoring during mechanical ventilation provides a real-time picture of patient-ventilator interaction and is a prerequisite for lung-protective ventilation. Nowadays, measurements of airflow, tidal volume and applied pressures are standard in neonatal ventilators. The measurement of lung volume during mechanical ventilation by tracer gas washout techniques is still under development. The clinical use of capnography, although well established in adults, has not been embraced by neonatologists because of technical and methodological problems in very small infants. While the ventilatory parameters are well defined, the calculation of other physiological parameters are based upon specific assumptions which are difficult to verify. Incomplete knowledge of the theoretical background of these calculations and their limitations can lead to incorrect interpretations with clinical consequences. Therefore, the aim of this review was to describe the basic principles and the underlying assumptions of currently used methods for respiratory function monitoring in ventilated newborns and to highlight methodological limitations.