Ventilation Mechanics

A fundamental task of the respiratory system is to operate as a mechanical gas pump ensuring that fresh air gets in close contact with the blood circulating through the lung capillaries to achieve O₂ and CO₂ exchange. To ventilate the lungs, the respiratory muscles provide the pressure required to overcome the viscoelastic mechanical load of the respiratory system. From a mechanical viewpoint, the most relevant respiratory system properties are the resistance of the airways (R _aw), and the compliance of the lung tissue (C _L) and chest wall (C _CW). Both airflow and lung volume changes in spontaneous breathing and mechanical ventilation are determined by applying the fundamental mechanical laws to the relationships between the pressures inside the respiratory system (at the airway opening, alveolar, pleural, and muscular) and R _aw, C _L, and C _CW. These relationships also are the basis of the different methods available to measure respiratory mechanics during spontaneous and artificial ventilation. Whereas a simple mechanical model (R _aw, C _L, and C _CW) describes the basic understanding of ventilation mechanics, more complex concepts (nonlinearity, inhomogeneous ventilation, or viscoelasticity) should be employed to better describe and measure ventilation mechanics in patients.