Respiratory monitoring

Vital functions such as respiration have to be continuously monitored in a critically ill or injured child. The two main components of respiratory function that can be monitored at the bedside are gas exchange and mechanical behavior of the respiratory system. The goals of respiratory monitoring are twofold. First, respiratory monitoring should help the clinician to be able to recognize acute respiratory failure and to quantify its severity and progression. Second, respiratory monitoring should provide the necessary therapeutic endpoints for management of acute respiratory failure and lung disease in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). This chapter will review the various techniques available for respiratory monitoring and discuss how multimodal respiratory monitoring might help to improve ventilator settings during non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation.