Ventilation and Respiratory Support

The majority of children undergoing open cardiac surgery require ventilation and respiratory support over the first postoperative night. Exceptions include simple repairs such as ASDs, and VSDs in older children. Many small infants undergoing closed heart surgery also require ventilation in the early postoperative period. In this chapter, we will discuss, besides factors influencing perioperative pulmonary function, details of postoperative ventilation along with types of ventilators, tracheal tubes, and important aspects of extubation. As it is very important for a number of specific neonatal and pediatric respiratory diseases the use and settings of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) will be presented as well.