[Electrostimulation of the phrenic nerves in neural resuscitation]

Electrostimulation of the phrenic nerves (ESPN) on the cervical level was conducted by the transcutaneous and direct methods in 30 neurosurgical patients in the postoperative period. Hypoventilation, hypoxemia, as well as microfocal pneumonia were relieved rapidly in 10 patients after transcutaneous ESPN. In 10 patients in whom the generally applied therapeutic measures proved ineffective, ESPN made it possible to cope with severe, rapidly progressing confluent pneumonia in the shortest time. The authors discuss the possibility of applying ESPN for restoration of spontaneous ventilation in central respiratory disorders (8 patients) and note the inefficacy of ESPN in pathological types of respiration and division of the phrenic nerve.