This is how the ventilator initiates inspiration and breaths can be either machine or patient triggered
Independent of patient respiratory effort
Initiated at a set time interval according to the set respiratory rate
Initiated when the patients inspiratory effort causes a change in flow or pressure within the ventilator circuit
Trigger sensitivity determines how easy it is for the patient to initiate (trigger) the breath
- The lower the trigger threshold setting the easier it is for a breath to be triggered and vice versa
- Setting the trigger threshold too low risks auto triggering where a breath is triggered without patient effort such as by hiccups or cardiac oscillations
Since your patient is paralyzed, you will have to select a Time-trigger for now, which will be determined by the RR you decide to chose.
However, since your patient might eventually start breathing on his own (when muscle relaxant worn off) and sedation will be lightened, you also need to set a back-up flow or pressure trigger.
The usual trigger is a flow trigger of 3L/min