Respiratory care
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Editorial Comparative Study
A Comparative Analysis of Ideal Body Weight Methods for Pediatric Mechanical Ventilation.
A universal method for determining ideal body weight (IBW) for the application of appropriate tidal volumes in children on mechanical ventilation is elusive. We sought to compare 3 commonly used IBW methods for subjects between ages 2 and 20 y. ⋯ The majority of the subjects demonstrated a clinically important error between the actual body weight and the IBW. The percent error increased in subjects > 25 kg actual body weight. These data underline the importance of obtaining height measurements and calculated IBW in pediatric patients who are mechanically ventilated.
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Editorial Comment
Actual Versus Ideal Body Weight: The Devil Is in the Details.