Noninvasive ventilation

Noninvasive ventilation provides mechanical breathing support through an external interface, usually a face or nasal mask, without an inserted airway tube. It can deliver pressure continuously or in timed breaths.

Continuous positive airway pressure: A breathing-support method that maintains positive pressure in the airways throughout the breathing cycle. It is a common noninvasive mode, especially when airway splinting is the main goal.
Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A sudden worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease symptoms, often involving increased breathlessness and airflow obstruction. Noninvasive ventilation can reduce the work of breathing and need for intubation in selected exacerbations.
Alveolus: A tiny air sac in the lungs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged with blood. The goal of ventilation support is to improve gas exchange across these lung structures.
Invasive mechanical ventilation: Mechanical support of breathing delivered through an endotracheal or tracheostomy tube. It secures the airway and permits more controlled support, but requires an invasive airway.
Bilevel positive airway pressure: A breathing-support mode that provides different pressure levels during inhalation and exhalation. Its separate inspiratory and expiratory pressures can assist ventilation more than constant pressure.
Acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema: Fluid accumulation in the lungs caused by acute failure of the heart's pumping function. Positive airway pressure can improve oxygenation and reduce cardiac loading in this emergency.
Ventilation-perfusion mismatch: A disparity between airflow reaching lung regions and blood flow passing through them. It helps explain why better ventilation does not always fully correct low blood oxygen.
High-flow nasal cannula: A system that delivers heated, humidified oxygen or air-oxygen mixtures through nasal prongs at high flow rates. It can support oxygenation without a sealed mask, but is not equivalent to ventilatory pressure support.
Pressure support ventilation: A ventilator mode that raises airway pressure during patient-triggered inhalation to assist each breath. It describes how inspiratory assistance can be synchronized with spontaneous breathing.
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome: A disorder in which obesity is associated with chronic daytime carbon-dioxide retention and disordered breathing. Long-term mask ventilation can support patients whose ventilation remains inadequate during sleep or wakefulness.

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