A 62-year-old man is ventilated with pressure support ventilation (PSV) at PS 15 cmH2O, PEEP 8 cmH2O. He is making strong inspiratory efforts. The ven...

Question

A 62-year-old man is ventilated with pressure support ventilation (PSV) at PS 15 cmH2O, PEEP 8 cmH2O. He is making strong inspiratory efforts. The ventilator graphic shows the pressure waveform dipping below the PEEP level at the start of each breath before reaching the set pressure support level. What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

Excessive trigger delay - there is a significant delay between the patient's inspiratory effort and the ventilator's response, causing the airway pressure to drop below PEEP

Answer

Normal trigger response

Answer

Auto-PEEP

Answer

The PEEP is set too high

Answer

The patient is over-sedated

uk-fficm MCQ (SBA): Patient-Ventilator Dyssynchrony