Measuring Lung Pressures in Critically Ill Children Who Are on Mechanical Ventilation

Typically doctors adjust the settings on the ventilator to ensure that children receive enough help to decrease the work they perform to breathe, receive enough oxygen through the machine to pass into the blood and to the organs, and remove acid that builds up in the blood. However, sometimes the settings we choose can result in damage to the lungs. We are trying to find a better way to determine the best ventilator settings, which can minimize potential damage to the lungs, and still provide children with enough support to decrease the work they have to do to breathe. We believe we can personalize these choices for each child by looking at the pressure that is generated in the chest while children breathe with the ventilator. This is accomplished by using a small tube which goes through the nose and into the esophagus or stomach, which is hooked up to a computer or the ventilator to monitor pressure. This same tube can then also be used to monitor how much work children need to do to breathe as we are turning down the ventilator in preparation to remove the breathing tube.