Breathing Machines (Mechanical Ventilation)

What is mechanical ventilation?

Mechanical ventilation is the use of a machine to help you breathe. It gets oxygen into your lungs and removes carbon dioxide from your body.

When is it used?

Mechanical ventilation may be used when you are unable to breathe on your own or to help you breathe more easily. In an emergency it can help you stay alive. For example, a breathing machine may be used if you have:

• a serious lung injury or disease
• very low blood pressure, which can be caused by shock, infection, or heart failure
• severe asthma
• conditions where the diaphragm cannot work right, such as spinal cord injury
• surgery with general anesthesia

How do I prepare for it?

In most cases it is used in an emergency situation.

What happens during mechanical ventilation?

• You will be given medicine to relax you and reduce anxiety.
• A tube will be put down your throat to protect your airway.
• The tube will be hooked up to the breathing machine.
• Your healthcare provider will closely follow your condition and control the settings on the ventilator.
• A nurse or respiratory therapist will suction lung secretions out of the tube because you will probably not be able to cough.

After you are started on the breathing machine:

• You may stay on the machine for several days, depending on how well you are breathing.
• Your healthcare providers may change the settings for the mechanical ventilation based on how you are doing.
• When you are strong enough and ready to go off the ventilator, your healthcare provider will slowly wean you off. Weaning you off means that the ventilator breathing rate will be turned down. This will give you a chance to take some breaths on your own. When you are able to breathe at a normal rate (usually 12 to 20 times a minute) and the tests show that you are able to get enough oxygen on your own, the ventilator can be stopped.

What happens after the procedure?

Once you are completely weaned off mechanical ventilation, the tube will be removed from your throat so you can breathe fully on your own.

After the tube is removed, your throat may feel sore and you may have some hoarseness for several days.

What are the benefits of this procedure?

The main benefit of mechanical ventilation is that it can keep you alive. Without mechanical ventilation, many seriously injured or ill people would not survive.

What are the risks of this procedure?

Risks associated with mechanical ventilation include:

• collapsed lung, which means air has entered the space between the rib cage and one of your lungs, putting pressure on the lung and causing it to collapse
• injury to your airways
• injury to the tiny air sacs in your lungs
• pneumonia

When should I call my healthcare provider?

While you are having mechanical ventilation at the hospital, your healthcare provider will be keeping close watch over your condition.

After you are released from the hospital, you should call your healthcare provider right away if:

• You have a fever.
• You start coughing up blood.
• You keep having problems with your voice, such as hoarseness or throat pain.
• You have any trouble breathing.