The ventilator detects the patient’s spontaneous breathing, and waits until the patient exhales
before delivering another mechanical breath. This "synchronizes" the ventilator to the spontaneous
breathing.
All spontaneous as well as mandatory breaths will be pressure control breaths.
A patient on an SIMV of 12 with a total breathing rate of 20 breaths per minute is receiving 12
breaths from the ventilator and taking 8 spontaneous breaths.
20 | P a g e
Volume Control Ventilation Modes
VCV (Volume Control Ventilation)
The ventilator will attempt to deliver the set tidal volume utilizing whatever pressure is required to
reach its set volume.
Support of Breathing
CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure)
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a form of positive airway pressure ventilator,
which applies mild air pressure on a continuous basis. It keeps the airways continuously open in
people who are able to breathe spontaneously on their own, but need help keeping their airway
unobstructed. It is an alternative to positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Both modalities stent
the lungs' alveoli open and thus recruit more of the lung's surface area for ventilation, but, while
PEEP refers to devices that impose positive pressure only at the end of the exhalation, CPAP
devices apply continuous positive airway pressure throughout the breathing cycle. Thus, the
ventilator itself does not cycle during CPAP, no additional pressure above the level of CPAP is
provided, and patients must initiate all of their breaths.
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