Mechanical ventilation is an essential life support for patients in the intensive care unit, emergency department and operating room who cannot sustain adequate homeostasis through spontaneous ventilation. This life-saving modality is implemented in a wide spectrum of clinical situations that result in respiratory failure, whether it be hypoxic or hypercapnic, acute or chronic. The wide breadth of causes of respiratory failure encompasses many specialties in both adult and pediatric practices: critical care medicine, pulmonary medicine, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, surgery, cardiology, neurology, and others.

A Practical Guide to Mechanical Ventilation provides a practical introduction to the equipment, techniques and protocols of mechanical ventilation. It is a comprehensive reference guide to both invasive and non-invasive procedures, and provides detailed guidance on weaning from mechanical ventilation. Each section is devised to be accessible and clinically relevant, and each topic is illustrated by clinical cases and decision-making algorithms.

• Concise, practical reference designed for use in the critical care setting
• Case-oriented content, organized according to commonly encountered clinical scenarios
• Flow charts and algorithms delineate appropriate treatment protocols