Abstract
BACKGROUND: Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving intervention for critically ill patients, but it can also lead to diaphragm atrophy, which may prolong the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of stay in the intensive care unit. IntelliVent-ASV® (Hamilton Medical, Rhäzüns, Switzerland) is a new mode of ventilation that has been developed to reduce diaphragm atrophy by promoting spontaneous breathing efforts. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of IntelliVent-ASV® and pressure support-synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (PS-SIMV) mode in reducing diaphragm atrophy by measuring diaphragm thickness using ultrasound (US) imaging. METHODS: We enrolled 60 patients who required mechanical ventilation due to respiratory failure and were randomized into two groups: IntelliVent-ASV(®) and PS-SIMV. We measured the diaphragm thickness using US imaging at admission and on the seventh day of mechanical ventilation. RESULTS: Our results showed that diaphragm thickness decreased significantly in the PS-SIMV group but remained unchanged in the IntelliVent-ASV(®) group. The difference in diaphragm thickness between the two groups was statistically significant on the seventh day of mechanical ventilation. CONCLUSIONS: IntelliVent-ASV(®) may reduce diaphragm atrophy by promoting spontaneous breathing efforts. Our study suggests that this new mode of ventilation may be a promising approach to preventing diaphragm atrophy in mechanically ventilated patients. Further studies using invasive measures of diaphragm function are warranted to confirm these findings.