Can mask ventilation be harmful?

There are no known harmful effects of mask ventilation. On the contrary, the use of mask ventilation for eight hours (or longer) is associated with an improved prognosis (prolonged life expectancy) and an enhanced quality of life (likely due to reduced respiratory effort). The concern that using a breathing mask will lead to further weakness of the respiratory muscles is unfounded.

Only if a machine were to completely take over breathing for several days would the patient’s own respiratory muscles become inactive. This phenomenon is known to occur in patients in an “artificial coma” and on mechanical ventilation. The mask ventilation used in ALS differs from this, so the problems commonly associated with intensive care medicine do not arise with non-invasive ventilation. On the contrary: by relieving the respiratory muscles of part of the work of breathing on an hourly basis, this allows for temporary recovery and strengthening of the respiratory muscles.