Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPrevention of nosocomial pneumonia in intubated patients: respective role of mechanical subglottic secretions drainage and stress ulcer prophylaxis.
Chronic microaspiration through a tracheal cuff is the main culprit in the penetration and colonization of the lower respiratory tract. A total of 145 patients intubated for more than 3 days were randomly assigned to a double nosocomial pneumonia (NP) prevention: 1--Prevention of aspiration by hourly subglottic secretion drainage (SSD) with a specific endotracheal tube (HI-LO Evac tube, Mallinckrodt); 2--Prevention of gastric colonization using either sucralfate or antacids. ⋯ Subglottic secretion drainage treatment was associated with: a) a twice lower incidence of NP (no-SSD: 29.1%, SSD: 13%); b) a prolonged time of onset of NP (no-SSD: 8.3 +/- 5 days, SSD: 16.2 +/- 11 days); c) a decrease in the colonization rate from admission to end-point day in tracheal aspirates (no-SSD: +21.3%, SSD: +6.6%) and in subglottic secretions (no-SSD: +33.4%, SSD: +2.1%). Sucralfate was not associated with a significantly lower incidence of NP (antacids: 23.6%, sucralfate: 17.8%), but with a lower increase in the colonization rate in subglottic and gastric aspirates, from admission to end-point day.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1992
Test of 20 similar intensive care ventilators in daily use conditions--evaluation of accuracy and performances.
Infrequent control, aging of components, may compromise the accuracy of ICU ventilators. In order to assess the reliability of ventilators during their clinical use, we bench tested a group of 20 CPU1 ventilators (Ohmeda) sampled at random in several ICU units. We found major leaks in 5 ventilators, attributable to the disposable tubings used in these systems. ⋯ The valve opening pressure threshold was correlated to the inspiratory flow (r = 0.81) contrary to the valve opening delay (average 138 +/- 40 ms). These two parameters did not correlate with the age of the ventilator. Our study addresses the need for periodic control of ventilator performance in order to minimize the risks of errors and malfunctions.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1992
Comparative StudyA comparison of continuous positive pressure ventilation, combined high frequency ventilation and airway pressure release ventilation on experimental lung injury.
In pigs with oleic induced lung injury, the effectiveness of combined high frequency ventilation (CHFV, with VDR-Phasitron) and airway pressure release ventilation (APRV) were compared to continuous positive pressure ventilation (CPPV) in a randomized study. The respiratory rate was 15/min, CPAP 8 mmHg and FiO2 0.25. PaCO2 was maintained at 5 kPa. ⋯ There was no difference in the pericardiac pressure between the 3 ventilation modes. The pressure related depressive effects on the cardiovascular function during CHFV and APRV were similar to those during CPPV. Adequate oxygenation and ventilation could be achieved with both CHFV and APRV, but these methods were not superior to CPPV.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1992
A fibre optics system for the evaluation of airway pressure in mechanically ventilated patients.
The present study was intended to evaluate the "in vivo" endotracheal (ET) tube resistance and respiratory mechanics in mechanically ventilated patients with respiratory failure by using fiber optic catheters. ⋯ This study confirms that 48 h after the positioning of ET tubes the airflow resistance is significantly higher than might be expected from the "in vitro" data. The presence of the endotracheal tube can interfere with the evaluation of thoraco-pulmonary mechanics, particularly in dynamic conditions. The fiber optic system represents an interesting and simple tool for the evaluation of ET tube resistance and pulmonary mechanics in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation.
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Intensive care medicine · Jan 1992
Comparative StudyAn experimental randomized study of five different ventilatory modes in a piglet model of severe respiratory distress.
To characterize different modes of pressure- or volume-controlled mechanical ventilation with respect to their short-term effects on oxygen delivery (DO2). Furthermore to investigate whether such differences are caused by differences in pulmonary gas exchange or by airway-pressure-mediated effects on the central hemodynamics. ⋯ In this model, as far as oxygenation is concerned, it does not matter in which specific way the airway pressures are produced. As far as oxygen transport is concerned, i.e. aiming at increasing DO2, we conclude that optimizing the circulatory status must take into account the circulatory influence of different modes of positive pressure ventilation.