2020 Year in Review: Shared Ventilation for COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Pulmonology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented respiratory failure, leading to predicted shortages of mechanical ventilators.
• Shared ventilation, using a single ventilator for multiple patients, was proposed to address potential ventilator scarcity.
• The concept gained traction in both lay and scientific press despite limited prior research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the peer-reviewed literature published in 2020 concerning shared ventilation techniques.
• To analyze the technical feasibility, clinical applications, limitations, and ethical considerations of shared ventilation.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of peer-reviewed articles published in 2020.
• Synthesis of information on technical aspects, clinical experiences, and ethical debates surrounding shared ventilation.

Main Results:

• Over 40 publications emerged in 2020, a significant increase from prior years.
• The literature covers technical implementation, clinical case studies, and extensive discussions on the limitations and ethics of shared ventilation.

Conclusions:

• Shared ventilation presents significant technical challenges and ethical dilemmas.
• The rapid proliferation of literature highlights the urgent need for careful consideration of this strategy in critical care settings.