Intensive care medicine
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We have treated 30 patients with flail chest, with priority given to associated factors (pain, secretions retention, hemo-/pneumothorax and underlying pulmonary contusion). When this treatment was insufficient IMV + PEEP was instituted; in this group there was a 58.8% incidence of pneumonia, 47.5% of sepsis and 11.7 days average stay in the ICU. These were significantly different when compared to the patients controlled without mechanical ventilatory support 7.7% pneumonia, 0% sepsis, 3.2 days). Surgical fixation was limnited to 4 patients who presented with multiple and greatly displace rib fractures, which made fixation by mechanical ventilation unpredictable.
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Intensive care medicine · May 1980
Hemodynamics and renal function during low frequency positive pressure ventilation with extracorporeal CO2 removal. A comparison with continuous positive pressure ventilation.
Six lambs were anesthetized and connected venovenous mode to a Membrane Lung for Extracorporeal CO2 removal. The animals underwent several hours periods of continuous positive pressure ventilation (CPPV), at 5 cmH2O positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP), alternated with several hours periods of low frequency positive pressure ventilation (5 cmH2O PEEP, 2 b.p.m.) with extracorporeal CO2 removal (LFPPV-ECCO2R). ⋯ The renal function improved significantly during LFPPV-ECCO2R compared with CPPV, i.e. urinary flow, creatinine clearance and osmolar clearance increased by 50%, 37% and 52% respectively. In these experiments LFPPV-ECCO2R, a form of completely artificial ventilation, seems to prevent hemodynamic and renal complications of CPPV.
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This is a very brief, superficial and biased discussion of the pathophysiologic changes in shock. It was designed to provide some insight into the very complex changes that occur, with particular attention to a few examples of the impaired cell metabolism, including changes in ATP, cAMP, and calcium. Although inadequate tissue perfusion through nutrietn capillaries is the main etiologic factor in most types of shock, it is not the primary problem in many patients, particularly those with early or hyperdynamic sepsis. The importantance of oxygen consumption and the possible benefits of higher hemoglobin levels are discussed to some extent because of their possible clinical application.