PRESSURE VENTILATION
Pressure control ventilation operates under the precept of delivering breaths
with a set amount of pressure (PIP), regardless of how much air (tidal volume)
accompanies that pressure.
Operator sets the following parameters: PIP, PEEP, I-time, and rate. On many
ventilators, Pressure control above PEEP is set (not PIP) and one just needs to
add the 2 settings to calculate the PIP.
Where do we set the PIP and PEEP?
Where we set the PIP depends on age, weight, and lung pathology.
PEEP is usually set between 4-6 cm H20
I-time is usually 0.25-0.45 seconds in younger/smaller infants and 0.4-0.6 seconds
in larger/older infants
Shorter I-times in infants with RDS
Longer I-times for lung disease or decreased compliance
The tidal volume (VT) is now going to be what varies from breath to breath, but it
is a value that is measured by the ventilator and this number can be followed to
see how well we’re doing with volume delivery on a given PIP.
