Non-invasive ventilation: interpretation of ventilator supplied data

The increasing number of patients treated by long-term non-invasive ventilation (NIV) challenges the capacity of specialised centres to perform in-hospital follow-up evaluations and requires, therefore, from the clinician a thorough and critical appraisal of the information provided by ventilator software as an important component of follow-up assessment. A systematic approach of the information is required along with a knowledge of the limitations in the reliability of some parameters and the variability in modes of reporting, which may be confusing.

This review reports the summary of observations made by a multinational group of experts in this field (SomnoNIV) over several years, and the relevant items from the medical literature.