Although the term has occasionally been used in other ways, in medical literature biotrauma is usually defined as a severe inflammatory response produced in the lungs of patients who breathe by means of a

mechanical ventilator A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...

for a long period of time. The term was coined in a 1998 paper by L. N. Tremblay and A. S. Slutsky, titled ''Ventilator-induced injury: from

barotrauma Barotrauma is physical damage to body tissues caused by a difference in pressure between a gas space inside, or contact with, the body and the surrounding gas or liquid. The initial damage is usually due to over-stretching the tissues in tens ...

to biotrauma''. The message of that paper was that

caused by pressure differentials is only one of several types of lung damage that a ventilator can produce.

References

{{Mechanical ventilation Medical terminology Respiratory therapy Pulmonology Emergency medicine Medical equipment Intensive care medicine Lung disorders Trauma types