SICU Series: Ventilator Fundamentals for the Surgical Trainee

This video covers the basics of ventilators for the surgical trainee. We discuss the two goals of ventilators and how we can most easily (and safely) titrate the ventilator to support oxygenation and ventilation. We discuss some of the most commonly used vent settings and how to practically think about them, and then we discuss a reasonable starting vent setting and how to titrate from there using pulse oximetry and blood gases. (A note I should have made in the video, only get blood gases q1-2 hrs after you start a ventilator until you get them on stable settings, then you can space that out significantly). We review the importance of low tidal volume ventilation and give you some number thresholds. We discuss data-supported options for stepping up therapy if the patient is not doing well on those basic vent settings. Finally, we discuss the importance of regular SBTs and how to ensure that your patients are being extubated as soon as they are ready.
Again, this is a basics video and we strongly encourage learners to use this as a springboard to guide them towards more in-depth videos on specific topics of clinical interest. Critical care is a vast and rapidly evolving field.
These videos are for educational purposes only and should not be used to diagnose or treat any disease. This is not clinical advice.