Non-invasive ventilation for acute respiratory failure: pressure support ventilation vs . pressure-controlled ventilation

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has been widely used as the first-line strategy for improving oxygenation and ventilation in patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) in the intensive care unit (ICU), with various applications in clinical practice, such as to facilitate early weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) (1,2), for respiratory support after surgery (3), during certain procedures (4) or as palliative therapy (5). Its beneficial effects have been demonstrated in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) (6), but questions remain regarding its efficacy for hypoxaemic respiratory failure, particularly de novo respiratory failure (7,8)