Control of breathing in mechanically ventilated patients

During mechanical ventilation, the respiratory system is under the influence of two pumps, the ventilator pump and the patient's own respiratory muscles. Depending on the mode of mechanical ventilatory support, ventilation may be totally controlled by the ventilator or may be determined by the interaction between patient respiratory effort and ventilator function. In either case, compared to spontaneous breathing, the breathing pattern is altered and this may influence: 1) force-length and force-velocity relationships of respiratory muscles (mechanical feedback); 2) chemical stimuli (chemical feedback); 3) the activity of various receptors located in the respiratory tract, lung and chest wall (reflex feedback); and 4) behavioural response (behavioural feedback). Changes in these feedback systems may modify the function of the ventilator, in a way that is dependent on the mode of mechanical ventilatory support, ventilator settings, mechanics of the respiratory system and the sleep/awake stage. Thus, the response of ventilator to patient effort, and that of patient effort to ventilator-delivered breath are inevitably the two components of control of breathing during mechanical ventilation; the ventilatory output is the final expression of the interaction between these two components. As a result of this interaction, the various aspects of control of breathing of the respiratory system may be masked or modulated by mechanical ventilation, depending on several factors related both to patient and ventilator. This should be taken into consideration in the management of mechanically ventilated patients.