Respiratory care
-
The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the management of ARDS has grown considerably in the past decade, largely as a consequence of improvements in extracorporeal technology and management techniques. Recently published data has helped clarify the use of ECMO in ARDS, and its role in optimizing lung-protective ventilation and minimizing ventilator-induced lung injury has the potential to have a substantial impact on ARDS management and outcomes. In the future, novel extracorporeal management strategies may lead to a new paradigm in our approach to patients with ARDS.
-
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia remains a complex disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Hypercarbia is a common derangement in this population, which often requires escalating ventilator support. By decreasing airway turbulence and enhancing CO2 removal, inhaled helium-oxygen mixture (heliox) has the potential to improve ventilation and thereby decrease ventilator support and its associated lung injury. ⋯ The addition of heliox to the standard practice of permissive hypercapnia facilitated improvement in gas exchange, which allowed a decrease in ventilator settings and oxygen exposure, both of which are known to contribute to lung injury in this population. A prospective trial is needed to more clearly define the acute and long-term impacts of this treatment.
-
Adherence to guidelines for endotracheal tube (ETT) insertion depth may not be sufficient to prevent malposition or harm to the patient. To obtain an estimate of ETT malpositioning, we evaluated initial postintubation chest radiographs and hypothesized that many ETTs in multiple intubation settings would be malpositioned despite adherence to Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Neonatal Resuscitation Program guidelines. ⋯ In infants and children, a high proportion of ETTs were malpositioned on the first postintubation chest radiograph, with little influence of guideline adherence.
-
A new holding chamber was designed to be used with the Aerogen Solo nebulizer to increase the aerosol emitted that reach the patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of this holding chamber with the nebulizer and determine its usability with other nebulizers. ⋯ The use of the holding chamber with a jet nebulizer, Pro nebulizer, and the Solo nebulizer significantly increased the aerosol delivery. The Solo nebulizer-holding chamber had the highest aerosol emitted compared with all nebulizer-adapter combinations and higher urine samples 30 min after dosing and cumulatively collected urine for 24 h compared with the nebulizer-T-piece.