: ''For the physics concept, see .'' Mechanical power is a medical term which is a measure of the amount of

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

imparted to a patient by 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 ...

. While in many cases mechanical ventilation is a life-saving or life-preserving intervention, it also has the potential to cause harm to the patient via

ventilator-associated lung injury Ventilator-associated lung injury (VALI) is an acute lung injury that develops during mechanical ventilation and is termed ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) if it can be proven that the mechanical ventilation caused the acute lung injury. In c ...

. A number of stresses may be induced by the ventilator on the patient's lung. These include

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 tensio ...

caused by pressure,

volutrauma 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 tensio ...

caused by distension of the lungs,

rheotrauma Rheotrauma is a medical term for the harm caused to a patient's lungs by high gas flows as delivered by mechanical ventilation. Although mechanical ventilation may prevent death of a patient from the hypoxia or hypercarbia which may be caused by ...

caused by fast-flowing delivery of gases and

atelectotrauma Atelectotrauma, atelectrauma, cyclic atelectasis or repeated alveolar collapse and expansion (RACE) are medical terms for the damage caused to the lung by mechanical ventilation under certain conditions. When parts of the lung collapse at the end ...

resulting from repeated collapse and re-opening of the lung. The purpose of mechanical power is to provide a quantity which can account for all of these stresses and therefore predict the amount of lung injury which is likely to be seen in the patient.

References

{{Mechanical ventilation Respiratory therapy Pulmonology Emergency medicine Medical equipment Intensive care medicine Lung disorders There is no agreed upon equation for Mechanical Power.