CANVent is an acronym for Canadian Alternatives in Noninvasive Ventilation. The
CANVent Program is located at the Rehabilitation Centre of the Ottawa Hospital although
the team is active throughout each of the acute care sites of the Ottawa Hospital.
The medical director is Dr. Douglas McKim, and expert care is provided by a team
of respirologists, respiratory therapists and nurse.
What is unique about the CANVent Program is its central role within the community
in identifying individuals who are at risk and preventing serious or life-threatening
complications such as respiratory failure. Through its work, the Program has raised
the level of awareness among specialists that individuals with neuromuscular diseases,
whether in hospital or the community, are at high risk for respiratory complications
and that education and noninvasive airway management (NIVAM) strategies may significantly
reduce or eliminate this risk.
NIVAM skills are not widely practiced and as a result, people with potentially preventable
complications experience unnecessary Emergency, Hospital and ICU admissions and
ill-advised invasive ventilation rather than proactive noninvasive strategies. These
conditions include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord
injury, multiple sclerosis, post-polio syndrome and others. NIVAM approaches include,
airway clearance (lung volume recruitment, mechanical cough assistance), detection
of respiratory failure without in-hospital sleep studies, elective noninvasive ventilation
and monitoring and tracheostomy removal, particularly in appropriate individuals
in ICU. Members of the CANVent Team actively engage in research and continue to
provide professional and patient education to minimize the respiratory complications
of neuromuscular illnesses and promote survival and quality of life, in the home.