Respiratory Diseases Department, UPRES EA 3830 (Groupe de Recherche sur le Handicap Ventilatoire), Rouen University Hospital, Rouen CEDEX, France.
Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2010 Oct;31(5):634-46. doi: 10.1055/s-0030-1265903. Epub 2010 Oct 12.
Respiratory failure frequently complicates the care of elderly patients with or without chronic lung disease. Recent advances in techniques and applications of noninvasive ventilation provide an exceedingly useful means of managing respiratory compromise, and the clinical utilization of noninvasive mechanical ventilation has transformed the prognosis of acute and chronic respiratory failure in this age group. The majority of elderly patients can recover from an acute respiratory failure episode if adequate support is provided, although some may require long-term ventilatory assistance. Such assistance may be provided in the home setting if an adequate support system is available. As the size of the elderly population grows, an increased number of elderly patients with multifactorial respiratory failure will undoubtedly require episodic or sustained ventilatory assistance, and noninvasive ventilation can be provided for various forms of acute and chronic respiratory failure, including advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, other parenchymal lung disease, and chest wall deformities. Health care organizations must incorporate long-term care facilities with ventilatory support capabilities into their health management strategies.
呼吸衰竭常使老年患者（无论是否患有慢性肺部疾病）的治疗复杂化。非侵入性通气技术和应用的最新进展为管理呼吸功能障碍提供了极其有用的手段，无创机械通气的临床应用改变了该年龄段急性和慢性呼吸衰竭的预后。如果提供足够的支持，大多数老年患者可以从急性呼吸衰竭发作中恢复，尽管有些患者可能需要长期通气支持。如果有足够的支持系统，这种支持可以在家庭环境中提供。随着老年人口的增加，患有多种因素导致呼吸衰竭的老年患者数量无疑会增加，需要间歇性或持续的通气支持，无创通气可用于各种形式的急性和慢性呼吸衰竭，包括晚期慢性阻塞性肺疾病、其他实质肺疾病和胸壁畸形。医疗保健组织必须将具有通气支持能力的长期护理设施纳入其健康管理策略中。
