abstract background : today, as many as 1.5 million americans use ventilators once in a year. .response to mechanical ventilation alarms remains to be one of the most challenging tasks facing physicians, nurses or other medical personnel in the icu. in the present study we aimed to compare the response times to “vocal alarms” and “visual or audible ones”. methods : in the present study we devel...

Objectives: The objectives of this post hoc analysis was to describe the characteristics of cardiopulmonary indicators among patients with normal ventilator weaning response and dysfunctional ventilator weaning response after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and to find the differences in characteristics of cardiopulmonary indicators between patients with normal ventilator weaning response...

Mechanical ventilation can be life-saving for patients with acute respiratory failure. In between the 2 extremes of complete and no ventilatory support, both patient and machine contribute to ventilatory work. Ideally, ventilator gas delivery would perfectly match patient demand. This patient-ventilator interaction depends on how the ventilator responds to patient respiratory effort and, in tur...

We studied the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) applied by the ventilator on respiratory mechanics in ventilated patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Airway pressures, relaxed expiratory flow-volume curves and end-expiratory volumes (EEV) were measured. In all patients investigated without PEEP applied by the ventilator, an intrinsic PEEP level (PEEPi) a...

PURPOSE This study investigated the effects of physician education and the availability of Peso and PL data on physicians' decisions regarding ventilator management during specific simulated clinical conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was a prospective, before-after study using a case scenario-based questionnaire and a case simulator device comprising an Avea ventilator and an artifi...

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of arterial oxygen desaturation during and after endotracheal suctioning in a group of ventilator-dependent patients with acute respiratory failure (the majority of whom had underlying obstructive lung disease) and to evaluate the efficacy of several maneuvers designed to minimize desaturation. The adaptor method presented ob...

Legislators, payers, and quality-of-care advocates across the United States are considering requiring hospitals to report ventilator-associated pneumonia rates as a way to benchmark and reward quality of care. Accurate diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia, however, is notoriously difficult because several common complications of critical care can mimic the clinical appearance of ventila...

BACKGROUND Mechanical ventilation causes ventilator-induced lung injury in animals and humans. Mitogen-activated protein kinases have been implicated in ventilator-induced lung injury though their functional significance remains incomplete. We characterize the role of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase/mitogen activated protein kinase kinase-3 and c-Jun-NH(2)-terminal kinase-1 in ventilator-i...

The ventilator discontinuation process is an essential component of overall ventilator management. Undue delay leads to excess stay, iatrogenic lung injury, unnecessary sedation, and even higher mortality. On the other hand, premature withdrawal can lead to muscle fatigue, dangerous gas exchange impairment, loss of airway protection, and also a higher mortality. An evidence-based task force ha...

Tracheotomy is commonly performed in ventilator-dependent patients. Disadvantages to the procedure are perioperative complications, long-term airway injury, and the cost of the procedure. Benefits ascribed to tracheotomy vs prolonged translaryngeal intubation include improved patient comfort, more effective airway suctioning, decreased airway resistance, enhanced patient mobility, increased pot...