Endotracheal intubation can lead to iatrogenic trauma to the upper airways. Superficial mucosal tears in the mouth, pharynx, or larynx are common and can cause secondary infection and acute respiratory distress due to massive air leak. We report a patient who sustained a severe 5-cm tracheal laceration and subcutaneous emphysema after intubation. She was successfully weaned from the ventilator ...

Conditioning inspired gases during mechanical ventilation by adding heat and humidity is a well accepted standard of care.1 Failure to heat and humidify inspired gas in an intubated patient results in well described complications, including inspissation of secretions, deciliation, bronchospasm, airway obstruction, atelectasis, and endotracheal tube (ETT) occlusion.2 Though these issues are unif...

Water scarcity is a pressing global issue driving the need for efficient and sustainable water reuse desalination technologies. In last two decades, humidification–dehumidification (HDH) has emerged as promising method small-scale decentralized systems. This paper presents comprehensive review of recent scientific literature highlighting key advancements, challenges, potential future directions...

of Recommendations • Ventilator circuits should not be changed routinely for infection control purposes. The maximum duration of time that circuits can be used safely is unknown. • Evidence is lacking related to ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and issues of heated versus unheated circuits, type of heated humidifier, method for filling the humidifier, and technique for clearing condensate ...

The aim of this study was to develop a technique for the collection of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) from ventilated children and assess its safety and feasibility. Collection of EBC is used to investigate markers of oxidative stress in the lower airway. No studies have assessed its safety in ventilated children. An in vitro model was developed by connecting a ventilator to an artificial lung...

The use of dry gases during mechanical ventilation has been associated with the risk of serious airway complications. The goal of the present study was to quantify the plasma levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 and to determine the radiological, hemodynamic, gasometric, and microscopic changes in lung mechanics in dogs subjected to short-term mechanical ventilation with and without humidification of t...

OBJECTIVE To assess the endotracheal temperature and humidity and clinical effects of 2 models of a new heat and moisture exchanger (HME): Rplus, which has regular breathing resistance, and Lplus, which has lower breathing resistance. METHODS We measured endotracheal temperature and humidity in 10 laryngectomized patients, for 10 min each, with and without the HMEs. We sequentially tested 4 H...

OBJECTIVE To determine the imposed work of different ventilation systems at 3 levels of pressure support. DESIGN Laboratory study. SETTING Teaching hospital respiratory laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Healthy, human volunteers. INTERVENTIONS Measurement of imposed work of breathing (WOB(i)) in six ventilators with alteration of ventilatory settings, humidification device, and triggering mechan...

[1] If the aerosol composition and size distribution below cloud are uniform, the vertical profile of cloud condensation nuclei concentration can be retrieved entirely from surface measurements of CCN concentration and particle humidification function and surfacebased retrievals of relative humidity and aerosol extinction or backscatter. This provides the potential for long-term measurements of...