In the past mechanical ventilation always mimicked the tidal volumes and ventilatory frequencies of normal breathing. Recently, there has been great interest in techniques that use rapid rates (60 to 3,000 per minute) and tidal volumes approximating dead space. These techniques are known collectively as high-frequency ventilation, although they differ in circuit design, use, potential complications, and mechanism of gas transport. High-frequency ventilation can be divided into four categories: (1) high-frequency positive pressure ventilation, (2) high-frequency jet ventilation, (3) highfrequency oscillatory ventilation and high-frequency flow interruption, and (4) high-frequency chest wall oscillation. In this review we discuss the similarities and differences of these high-frequency techniques, their clinical applications, and some physiological mechanisms involved in gas transport.
High-Frequency Positive
Pressure VentilationHigh-frequency positive pressure ventilation (HFPPV) was discovered by Sj6strand and coworkers [1] while searching for a method of mechanical ventilation that would not cause respiratory synchronous variations in blood pressure. Their original,system consisted of a small catheter placed in the lumen of an endotracheal tube through which compressed gas was delivered at frequencies of 60 to 100 per minute. This system proved impractical for clinical use, and a new ventilator was developed with low internal compliance and high driving pressure. Pulses of compressed gas entered the endotracheal tube through a side arm that functioned as a pneumatic valve [1] ] (Table).Standard mechanical ventilators have also been used for HFPPV [2]. The tidal volumes delivered during HFPPV vary among ventilators. Frantz [3], among others, has hypothesized that the tidal volume almost always exceeds dead space, whereas others [4,48] have reported tidal volumes as low as 3 ml/kg body weight. HFPPV is used frequently during bronchoscopy and tracheal surgery because it allows full airway access [5]. It has also been used to ventilate patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome because it helps mobilize secretions and decreases the need for sedation [6]. In the few studies on the use of HFPPV in neonates, HFPPV has been shown to maintain adequate gas exchange at low peak airway pressures [7]. Rates of 60 to 150 breaths per minute are often used in infants who are hypoxic or hypercapnic despite appropriate conventional ventilation. Rates of 120 to 150 per minute can be delivered by manual ventilation with an anesthesia bag or by conventional neonatal venat UNIVERSITE DE MONTREAL on June 14, 2015 jic.sagepub.com Downloaded from