Interventions with non-invasive ventilation and tracheotomy

The number of possible interventions in patients undergoing non-invasive ventilation as well as invasive ventilation through tracheotomy is steadily increasing. This is especially due to the rising number of patients who need mechanical ventilation due to chronic ventilatory failure. Endoscopic secretion management is important in mechanically ventilated patients, particularly those with neuromuscular diseases. Nevertheless, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are also indicated because of the increased use of non-invasive ventilation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Further increases in the numbers of treated patients are to be expected, not least because inhalation of cigarette smoke is the cause of COPD and bronchial cancer. Furthermore, the quest for new endoscopic methods for the treatment of emphysema provides a possibly effective sequential basis by combining non-invasive ventilation with endoscopic lung volume reduction. © 2010 Springer Medizin Verlag.