In initial infant ventilation settings, which parameter is commonly adjusted to maintain positive airway pressure and may be matched to CPAP?

• A. Vt
• B. RR
• C. PEEP
• D. FiO2

Answer: (C)

Maintaining a baseline positive pressure at the end of expiration is essential in initial infant ventilation to keep airways and alveoli open and to improve oxygenation. The setting used for this is PEEP. By adjusting PEEP, you sustain functional residual capacity and prevent alveolar collapse after each breath. It can be matched to CPAP because CPAP provides a continuous baseline pressure during spontaneous breathing, and on a ventilator, setting PEEP creates the same continuous end-expiratory pressure to preserve alveolar recruitment. Tidal volume, respiratory rate, and FiO2 control ventilation, rate, and oxygen delivery, respectively, but they do not establish the ongoing end-expiratory pressure that PEEP provides.