Breath by breath: the real science of gas exchange

This inaugural session of the WFPICCS Pediatric Respiratory Critical Care Series (PRCCS) provides a comprehensive, physiology-based exploration of gas exchange in critically ill children, with direct relevance to daily practice in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The speaker of this session is Dr. Martin Kneyber, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Beatrix Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.

The webinar focuses on the fundamental mechanisms of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, guiding participants through the stepwise process from alveolar ventilation and diffusion to ventilation–perfusion (V/Q) matching and tissue oxygen delivery. Using clear physiologic models and bedside examples, the session distinguishes hypoxemia from hypoxia, and reviews the major causes of impaired gas exchange, including hypoventilation, shunt, diffusion limitation, and V/Q mismatch.

A substantial portion of the lecture is dedicated to translating physiology into practical ventilator management, with discussion of lung volumes, functional residual capacity, dead space, and the impact of lung heterogeneity in pediatric acute lung injury and ARDS. The session examines how mechanical ventilation settings – including tidal volume, respiratory rate, PEEP, FiO₂, and mean airway pressure – influence oxygenation and carbon dioxide clearance, and why physiologic interpretation is essential when adjusting these parameters.

Participants are guided through commonly used oxygenation and ventilation indices (PF ratio, oxygenation index, saturation-based indices, alveolar–arterial gradients, and dead space measurements), with a critical discussion of their strengths, limitations, and appropriate clinical interpretation. The webinar also addresses the physiologic rationale behind permissive hypercapnia, prone positioning, and PEEP titration, emphasizing individualized, patient-specific decision-making rather than protocol-driven ventilation alone.

Throughout the session, the speaker reinforces the concept that physiology underpins evidence-based critical care, and that understanding gas exchange mechanisms is essential for safe and effective ventilatory support in children with respiratory failure.

This session serves as a foundational lecture for clinicians involved in pediatric respiratory and critical care, setting the stage for subsequent PRCCS webinars focused on ventilation–perfusion mismatch, shunt physiology, and advanced bedside assessment of gas exchange.