Continuous positive airway pressure

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a form of positive airway pressure ventilator, which applies mild air pressure on a continuous basis to keep the airways continuously open in a patient who is unable to breathe spontaneously on their own. It is an alternative to positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP). Both modalities stent the lungs' alveoli open and thus recruit more of the lung's surface area for ventilation. But while PEEP refers to devices that impose positive pressure only at the end of the exhalation, CPAP devices apply continuous positive airway pressure throughout the breathing cycle. Thus, the ventilator itself does not cycle during CPAP, no additional pressure above the level of CPAP is provided, and patients must initiate all of their breaths.

CPAP typically is used for people who have breathing problems, such as sleep apnea. CPAP also may be used to treat preterm infants whose lungs have not yet fully developed. For example, physicians may use CPAP in infants with respiratory distress syndrome. It is associated with a decrease in the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In some preterm infants whose lungs haven't fully developed, CPAP improves survival and decreases the need for steroid treatment for their lungs.