Respiratory Failure in Neurological Disorders

• Respiratory Failure in Neurological Disorders causes:

  • decrease in capacity
  • increase in load
• Respiratory Failure in Neurological Disorders - Decreased capacity caused by:

  • Respiratory muscle weakness/paralysis
  • Disrupted mechanics e.g. scoliosis / kyphoscoliosis (DMD)
  • Sepsis - inflammatory reaction to an infection that increases breakdown of muscle tissue
  • Hypoxia - low o2
  • Hypercapnia - high co2, increasing acidity
  • Malnutrition
  • Reduced cardiac function (DMD)
• Respiratory Failure in Neurological Disorders - Increased load caused by:

  • Decreased lung compliance due to adopted breathing pattern (elastic load)
  • Decreased chest wall compliance (elastic load)
  • Retained secretions (resistive load)
  • Infection (increased O2 demand)
• The combination of loss of respiratory muscle strength, ineffective cough and decreased ventilation leads to pneumonia, atelectasis and respiratory failure