High-Frequency Ventilation in Newborns. A Needed Capability in Neonatal Units

摘要

High-frequency ventilation is a form of mechanical ventilation used in newborns with acute respiratory insufficiency and is characterized by the use of small volumes of flow, smaller than the anatomic space available, but at extremely high frequency. Its mechanism of action is different from that of conventional ventilation, for which reason it is important to recognize its technical and operational characteristics prior to clinical use. The advantages of this technique over conventional mechanical ventilation include the ability to achieve adequate gas exchange in a lung damaged by barotrauma or volutrauma by using low pressures in the proximal airways. In this article we present some types of high-frequency ventilation, concentrating on high frequency oscillatory ventilation, the possible mechanisms of gas exchange occurring in this type of ventilation, its primary indications, and some strategies for clinical management.