The use of noninvasive ventilation in infants and children

Noninvasive ventilation is a method of delivery either positive or negative pressure breaths to the patients lungs without performing intubation or tracheostomy.The most popular modality is positive pressure ventilation,and nose or mouth devices are most commonly used for delivery of mechanical breaths.When used in newborn infants after extubation this method can shorten the time spent on invasive ventilator treatment.It can also be employed in infants with apnea,and in infants and children with respiratory insufficiency due to neuromuscular disorders.In the latter case the noninvasive ventilation is usually used for months and even years The advantages of noninvasive ventilation include decreased risk of infection,preservation of the ability to speak and better tolerance of the mouth or nasal interfaces in comparison to endotracheal tube. Main problems include leak around the interfaces and gastric distentiuon or even perforation.

Keywords: noninvasive ventilation, nasal ventilation, Child, respiratory failure