Effects on Breathing Mechanics and Gas Exchange of Different Inspiratory Gas Flow Patterns in Patients Undergoing Respirator Treatment

In order to investigate the importance of different inspiratory gas flow patterns in respirator treatment, eight intensive care patients were studied with breathing mechanics and five patients also with gas exchange studies. Three different inspiratory gas flow patterns were tested in randomized sequences namely, accelerating, constant and decelerating flow. All three flow patterns were generated by the same respirator. No end-inspiratory pause was used. The results point to a favourable effect on breathing mechanics of a decelerating and a constant flow when compared with an accelerating flow type. However, when the total effects on gas distribution and lung perfusion were evaluated in the gas exchange studies, no significant differences were seen between the three flow patterns.