Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Aug 1991
Performance of BOC Ohmeda Tec 3 and Tec 4 vaporisers following tipping.
The introduction of systems to facilitate the changing of vaporisers on the back bar of the anaesthetic machine has increased the risk of a vaporiser being tipped or inverted prior to attachment. The performance of three Ohmeda Tec 3 and three Ohmeda Tec 4 vaporisers following tipping to 30 degrees, 90 degrees and inversion to 180 degrees was measured using a calibrated Datex Capnomac AGM-103 analyser. ⋯ However, after inversion of the Tec 3 vaporiser with the dial at zero or higher, the anaesthetic concentration delivered was much greater than shown on the dial, initially exceeding 12% for all agents. Should a Tec 3 vaporiser be inverted with the dial at any setting other than OFF, it is necessary to adequately flush it with fresh gas and check its output prior to use.