Lung Mechanics in ARDS. In: Vincent J, editor. Yearbook of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 1999. Berlin: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 1999. pp. 207-18. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-13453-5_20]

Monitorización de la mecánica ventilatoria

Monitoring the mechanical properties (both static and dynamic) of the respiratory tract is essential for the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease causing any condition and to take the pertinent therapeutic decisions. These measurements can maintain a lung function in optimum conditions during mechanical ventilation and choose the best time to disconnect the patient. Until recently, monitoring the respiration of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation required sophisticated and complicated apparatuses or difficult techniques. Instrumentalization of the respiratory as a monitor has evolved in such a way that many respirators can graphically reproduce in real time the changes that occur in some variables of the respiratory cycle. Using these monitoring techniques improves knowledge of lung behavior of each patient with ARDS, thus facilitating its management. It may also improve decision-making in each individual patient, improving their prognosis.