What Is an Effect of Excessive Ventilation? Explained Here

Discover what is an effect of excessive ventilation Learn how over-ventilation impacts health, CO2 levels, and energy efficiency.

We usually consider ventilation when we think about a hospital setting, a home, or an industrial application, and we equate it with something positive, something that supplies us with fresh air, allows us to breathe, and adds quality to life. But when we over-ventilate, does more necessarily equal something negative?

Let’s discuss the consequences of excessive ventilation, with emphasis on medical cases, and why we need to achieve a balance. I’ll include personal observations and anecdotes where I can to make it more interesting. If you’ve ever caught yourself wondering, what is an effect of excessive ventilation, you’re on the right path.

Understanding Excessive Ventilation in the Medical Context

In the instance of mechanical ventilation, the majority of individuals assume the more oxygen, the better, but that isn’t the case. The body has a tightly controlled system for oxygen and carbon dioxide equilibrium, and disturbing that equilibrium has potentially catastrophic consequences.

1. Lung Overdistention: The Pressure Problem

A few years back, when I was new in the critical care setting, I got the chance to witness a case that changed my thinking about ventilation. An ARDS patient had been mechanically ventilated. Ventilator settings had been set too high, the attending physician explained, causing lung overdistention. What ensued as a consequence? Lung overdistention. Overdistension results when pressure fills the lungs beyond their capacity. This results in barotrauma, or pressure injury to lung tissue. In extreme cases, it even leads to a pneumothorax, where the lung becomes collapsed because the lung ruptures. If not treated, it leads to death. what is an effect of excessive ventilation? One result is lung overdistention.

A Parallel Analogy:

Picture inflating a balloon. If you continue to inflate it past its point, it bursts sooner or eventually. This more or less occurs with the lungs when excessive pressure is placed on the lungs over the long term.

2. Hyperventilation: The Silent Threat of Respiratory Alkalosis & Brain Hypoxia

A notable case that impacted my practice involved a patient who had been hyperventilated because the ventilator had been set too high. Something that had been done with the best intentions to oxygenate more had the counterintuitive result of inducing brain tissue hypoxia.

Why Does This Happen?

The high minute ventilation results in the rapid decrease in pCO2 in the blood. This results in respiratory alkalosis, which has a chain effect:

• The brain vessels narrow with low levels of CO2.

• This restriction reduces brain blood flow, which results in potential hypoxia (oxygen deficiency).

• Severe alkalosis results in disturbances in electrolytes that include potassium deficiency or hypokalemia leading to **arrhythmias and

And what is an effect of excessive ventilation? One potentially deadly result that few fully realize is brain hypoxia.

A sobering consideration, to be assisting the person with their breathing but possibly depriving their brain of oxygen as well in the process.

3. CPR Ventilation Debate: Why Less Can Be Better

One thing that I found most surprising when I entered the workforce was that ventilation isn’t priority number one when giving CPR. Breaking down why, let us start with the why:

• The average person breathes 12–16 breaths per minute. During CPR, you don’t ventilate too much because oxygenating isn’t the concern, circulation is. – Hyperventilating the patient could lead to gastric inflation-air entering the stomach in error instead of the lungs. This could lead to:

• Aspiration and regurgitation (inhaling stomach contents into the lungs).

• Diaphragmatic splinting, contributing to the work needed to breathe and possibly decreasing cardiac output.

• Maintenance of coronary perfusion pressure is the most critical consideration during resuscitation. Any pause in chest compressions reduces the chance for ROSC success.

In the remote chance that you remain uncertain about the effect of over-ventilation, gastric inflation and aspiration are considerations to bear in mind.

A Personal Experience:

I remember having a responder who emphasized the delivery of breaths so much that he had to keep stopping the compressions over and over again. The result: the perfusion pressure kept falling, and ROSC became increasingly difficult to achieve. This was a hard lesson learned that sometimes less really does equal more.

Over-Ventilation Outside the Medical Setting

Whereas the health care setting has been the site for controversy regarding over-ventilation, the same phenomenon has been found to happen in other settings, the home, as well as the industrial setting.

4. Ventilation in the House: Too Much Fresh Air?

We learn much about the necessity for ventilation inside the house to prevent the house from becoming too stuffy, moldy, and having low quality air. But excessive ventilation has issues as well:

• Higher bills: If your system constantly recirculates new air, your heating or cooling system must work harder, and your bills go up as a result.

• Humidity imbalance: Excess dryness in the winter and excess humidity in the summer due to over-ventilation create discomfort and indoor health issues.

• Infiltration with airborne pollutants: An excessive amount of outside air coming through dirty places has the potential to lower indoor air quality, as opposed to enhancing it.

Again, one result of over-ventilation? Indoor air quality problems and higher bills are only two.

5. Industrial & Environmental Implications 

Ventilation systems are the primary source on which most businesses depend for maintaining air quality. Excessive ventilation has the following consequences:

• Energy waste: Overworking ventilation systems increases energy consumption, raising operational costs.

• Inefficiencies in the process: Some industrial operations require controlled airflow. Excess ventilation may interfere with operations and reduce efficiency.

• Environmental concerns: Over-ventilation results in the creation of more carbon, causing climate change.

So,what is an effect of excessive ventilation in the industrial setting? Excess environmental and economic costs.

Balancing the Equation: Ventilation Best Practices 

Now that we know the dangers of over-ventilating, let’s discuss the correct way to do it. Some take-aways are: 

1.Medical Environments: 

• Don’t overload the ventilator settings with too much pressure or volume  
• Keep pCO2 levels in range to prevent alkalosis and brain hypoxia. 
• During CPR, prioritize the chest compressions to maintain circulation. 

2. Home Environments:

• Employ balanced ventilation techniques to get the maximum air exchange without overloading your heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system.  
• Keep indoor humidity within limits to prevent discomfort and health issues. 

3. Industry Applications:

• Employ efficient ventilation systems that provide air quality with little power usage. 
• Employ smart ventilation control that adapts to current demand. 

If someone queries what is an effect of excessive ventilation is, you now have plenty of answers at your disposal.

Key Takings:

• Moderation Is the Answer Ventilation, as with life, is all about moderation. 
• Whether we’re talking about hospital mechanical ventilation, home indoor air quality ventilation, or industry ventilation, more becomes as dangerous as less.

• If you’re in a position where ventilation becomes the issue, medical or in life, remember this: more isn’t better. Smarter is.

Additional Resources:

1. Problems with Excessive Ventilation During ACLS: This article from Project Heartbeat highlights how excessive ventilation can decrease cardiac output by increasing intrathoracic pressure, which impedes venous return to the heart.
   
2. Hyperventilation-Induced Hypotension During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Published in the Circulation journal, this study suggests that elevated intrathoracic pressures from excessive ventilation can inhibit venous blood flow back to the right heart.

3. Manual vs. Mechanical Ventilation in Patients with Advanced Airway: This research, available on PubMed Central, discusses how excessive ventilation decreases venous return and cardiac output by affecting intrathoracic pressure.

4. Hyperventilation | Johns Hopkins Medicine: This resource explains that excessive breathing can lead to low levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, causing various symptoms associated with hyperventilation.