Update on patient-triggered ventilation

Results from physiologic studies demonstrating better tidal volume delivery and blood gas exchange but reduced blood pressure fluctuations, and sugges ted use of patient-triggered ventilation (PTV) rather than conventional mec hanical ventilation, might reduce chronic lung disease and intracerebral he morrhage. Metaanalysis of randomized trials, however, has demonstrated PTV is only significantly associated with a shorter duration of ventilation. Th e benefits of PTV seen in physiologic studies were largely dependent on pro moting synchronized ventilation, but no attempt was made in any of the rand omized trials to assess whether this occurred. To determine the efficacy of PTV, the optimum triggering device and triggered mode, which may be diseas e-specific, should be tested.