Cardiac Pacing a Rare Cause of Ventilator Auto Triggering

Ventilator auto triggering is an avoidable complication in ventilators, if left unnoticed can lead to deleterious effects. There are various causes for ventilator auto triggering. Though rare, there are some cardiac causes for inadvertent ventilator triggering. We report a case of 44-years-old male paced with atrial epicardial wires postcoronary artery bypass. The wires were close to the right phrenic nerve, causing the right diaphragm to contract in synchronization with the heartbeat. This caused ventilator auto triggering and ended up delivering inadvertent breaths. The pacemaker output was immediately reduced to the required minimum to continue pacing the heart and decrease phrenic nerve stimulation. This caused immediate changes in ventilator waveform and auto triggering was completely stopped and the patient could be successfully weaned off the ventilator. This case report emphasizes he need for timely recognition of alteration in ventilator waveforms and early intervention to avert any untoward events. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Mukunthan MN, Bhardwaj V. Cardiac Pacing a Rare Cause of Ventilator Auto Triggering. Indian J Crit Care Med 2022;26(5):643–645.