Despite advances in ventilator management, 31% to 38% of patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) will die, some from progressive respiratory failure. Inability to adequately oxygenate patients with severe ARDS has prompted extensive efforts to identify what are now known as alternative modes of ventilation including high-frequency oscillatory ventilation and airway pressure rel...

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous dilational tracheostomy is normally a bronchoscope-guided procedure. The insertion of a bronchoscope into an endotracheal tube (ETT) affects resistance, flow, and alveolar pressure. To improve airway management and ventilation during percutaneous tracheostomy, we developed a double lumen endotracheal tube (DLET). The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the linear ...

A 13 yr old male with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who received bilevel positive airway pressure ventilation via a face mask for post-transplant pneumonitis developed subcutaneous emphysema, radiographic evidence of pulmonary interstitial emphysema, pneumomediastinum and 6 h later, right hemiparesis and focal livedo reticularis. This case illustrates that severe barotrauma may complicate nonin...

The airway pressure 100 msec after the onset of an inspiratory effort against a closed airway (P100, occlusion pressure) is theoretically a more accurate index of respiratory neuron motor output than ventilation. Occlusion pressure and ventilation responses to hypercapnia were compared in repeated trials in 10 normal subjects while in the seated and supine positions. During progressive hypercap...

BACKGROUND Percutaneous dilational tracheostomy is normally a bronchoscope-guided procedure. The insertion of a bronchoscope into an endotracheal tube (ETT) affects resistance, flow, and alveolar pressure. To improve airway management and ventilation during percutaneous tracheostomy, we developed a double lumen endotracheal tube (DLET). The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the linear c...

BACKGROUND The efficacy of protective ventilation in acute lung injury has validated its use in the operating room for patients undergoing thoracic surgery with one-lung ventilation (OLV). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two different modes of ventilation using low tidal volumes: pressure controlled ventilation (PCV) vs. volume controlled ventilation (VCV) on oxygena...