Book review: Non-Invasive Ventilation Made Simple

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is well established and increasingly used in routine clinical practice [1], either in the management of acute respiratory failure, where it has resulted in improved survival and reduced number of complications or in weaning from invasive ventilation in intensive care or high-dependency units [2]. However, some concepts and techniques of NIV may be difficult to grasp for students or for unexperienced healthcare professionals.

Non-Invasive Ventilation Made Simple by William Kinnear is an excellent attempt to provide a simple, modern and practical way for beginners to enter the world of NIV. The book is divided into 45 small and focused chapters, all written in very straightforward English, making it very easy to for non-native English speakers to understand and follow. All chapters begin with a list of learning points and end with a short summary.

The author starts by providing a brief background, the building blocks and the basic principles of ventilation and NIV, including the definition and current clinical scenarios for which its use is more common. The book then goes on to cover all different aspects of NIV, mixing technical themes, such as masks, mouthpieces, pressure support and pressure control, oxygen delivery, humidification, leaks, volume modes and weaning to NIV from an endotracheal intubation, with clinical topics, such as describing the use and application of NIV in several diseases and conditions, including respiratory failures, motor neurone diseases, chest wall trauma, obesity–hypoventilation syndrome and cervical cord lesions. Although it would seem to be easier and clearer to differentiate the technical chapters from the more clinically oriented ones, the material flows naturally, and the introduction of a clinical issue is often guided by a specific technical aspect and vice versa.

The final chapters cover the use of cough-assist devices and the use of NIV as an addition to respiratory physiotherapy, introducing the theme of ventilation in the patient’s home and long-term use. All chapters are thoroughly illustrated, with easy to interpret, clear yet detailed figures, especially those illustrating physiological aspects. Moreover, there is a small and useful list of key terms with short definitions.

Throughout the book, the reader will find highlighted boxes that effectively summarise several aspects of the text. They point out a specific key issues of a paragraph, define a term for future reference, provide practical tips and small tutorials (labelled “How to do it”) on a particular matter or explain the physiology of a given concept in greater detail. The reader will also find a compilation of these small and helpful extracts in the appendices that, along with these lists, also feature conversion charts for both Hydrogen ion concentration to pH and kPa to mmHg.

Overall, this is a very interesting and easy to read book, covering a wide range of subjects regarding NIV, that beginners may find very helpful when first approaching these subjects. Even if some topics are not covered in full detail, for the sake of simplicity, the book may also prove useful as a reference guide for experienced professionals.