high-frequency ventilation (HFV), a technique for providing ventilatory support to patients at a rate of at least 60 breaths per minute with small tidal volumes. It may be used during intraoperative procedures such as laryngoscopy or bronchoscopy, as well as for ventilation in patients with a bronchopleural fistula or advanced respiratory distress syndrome, or in respiratory distress of the neonate. Kinds of HFV include high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) and high-frequency oscillation (HFO). HFJV uses a high-pressure gas source that can produce short, rapid jets of gas through a small-bore cannula into the airway above the carina at a rate of 100 to 400 per minute. HFO forces small impulses of gas into and out of the airway at a rate of 400 to 4000 per minute. See also high-frequency jet ventilation, high-frequency oscillation.
