[Ventilator therapy--respiratory failure].

Acute respiratory failure is either due to an exacerbation of chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) or to an inflammatory process in the lungs ("acute lung injury, ALI", or "acute respiratory distress syndrome, ARDS"). The initial ventilator treatment of COLD should preferably be performed without tracheal intubation, e.g. via a mouth-nose mask, and where tracheal intubation is needed, long expiratory times are recommended. In the case of ALI/ARDS there is strong evidence that the lungs should be ventilated with small tidal volumes and low inspiratory pressures.