Paediatric Pulmonology and Allergology

2004 April, Vol. VII, No. 1 (pp.2431-2438)

Chronic Respiratory Failure in Children and Long Term Ventilatory Support

James Paton

Du­ring the last fif­te­en years, the­re has be­en a re­vo­lu­tion in the ma­na­ge­ment of chro­nic res­pi­ra­to­ry fai­lu­re in chil­dren. Met­hods of long-term ven­ti­la­tion ha­ve be­co­me inc­re­a­sin­gly wi­de­ly used. The de­ve­lop­ment of non-in­va­si­ve tech­ni­qu­es, which are ge­ne­ral­ly much sim­pler and lo­wer “tech” has pro­vi­ded an im­por­tant ad­di­tio­nal sti­mu­lus. Non-in­va­si­ve ven­ti­la­tion pro­vi­des sig­ni­fi­cant ad­van­ta­ges to tho­se who ca­re for chil­dren with chro­nic ven­ti­la­to­ry in­suf­fi­cien­cy and has al­lo­wed ma­ny chil­dren to be ma­na­ged at ho­me.It has pro­ved a use­ful and ef­fec­ti­ve the­ra­py, im­pro­ving ven­ti­la­to­ry pa­ra­me­ters, sur­vi­val and pro­bab­ly qu­a­li­ty of li­fe. The­se tech­ni­qu­es are trans­for­ming both the sur­vi­val and qu­a­li­ty of li­fe of a group of chil­dren who would pre­vio­us­ly ha­ve be­en be­yond tre­at­ment. This ar­tic­le con­si­ders so­me is­su­es in­vol­ved in the ma­na­ge­ment of chro­nic res­pi­ra­to­ry fai­lu­re in chil­dren with chro­nic ven­ti­la­to­ry in­suf­fi­cien­cy cau­sed by dif­fe­rent di­se­a­ses.

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