Whether you are a patient who needs a ventilator or a health care provider who uses it, you need to know how to recognize and treat common problems. These problems are often related to the device itself. But they can also be caused by the patient. Regardless of the cause, the best way to address them is to quickly identify the problem and take steps to fix it.
If you need to use a ventilator, you may need to be on it for a long time. Some people will need it for days or weeks at a time. Others may only need it for a few hours. The length of time a ventilator is used is dependent on the type of illness the patient has and how long the treatment will take.
When a person is on a ventilator, they may be unable to talk or eat. They may also have weak chest muscles and a sore throat. If this is the case, the doctor may want to give the patient physical therapy to help regain muscle strength.
Another possible problem you may encounter is the development of pneumonia. If you are breathing through a ventilator, you may need antibiotics. You can help your doctor fight this infection by telling him or her if you feel worse. If the infection is severe, the doctor may recommend a tracheostomy. The tracheostomy is a hole in the throat that is attached to a ventilator. The tracheostomy will prevent the tube from moving.
Another possible problem you may encounter is drug-induced distress. This occurs when the drug you are taking impairs the nerves that control your muscles. This can cause insomnia, restlessness, and irritability. When a patient experiences this problem, the medical staff needs to use high levels of PEEP (positive end-expiratory pressure) to correct it. However, this Possible Problems You May Encounter Upon Ventilation may not always work.
Other possible problems you may encounter are excessive ventilation and pneumonia. Ventilators help you breathe during general anesthesia, but they can increase your risk of infection. If you are exposed to high levels of gas stove contaminants, you can also have problems with breathing. These contaminants are also carcinogenic and can cause lung cancer.
When you are on a ventilator, you may have a low oxygen saturation level (SpO2) and a low-SpO2 alarm. When you don’t get enough oxygen, your body will release carbon dioxide. The low-SpO2 alarm can be a warning of a more serious problem. The medical staff will want to use high levels of PEEP to raise your SpO2 level.
Other problems you may encounter include dyssynchrony, a disorder of the ventilator that causes improper timing of breath delivery. This problem causes a person to need increased PEEP on the ventilator to get a breath. The medical staff needs to make proper adjustments to the ventilator to address this problem. The adjustments may include the type of flow adjustment, the sensitivity adjustment, and the duration of the inhalation.