Resp Care
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Ventilator management of the patient recovering from acute respiratory failure must balance competing objectives. On the one hand, aggressive efforts to promptly discontinue support and remove the artificial airway reduce the risk of ventilator-induced lung injury, nosocomial pneumonia, airway trauma from the endotracheal tube, and unnecessary sedation. On the other hand, overly aggressive, premature discontinuation of ventilatory support or removal of the artificial airway can precipitate ventilatory muscle fatigue, gas-exchange failure, and loss of airway protection. ⋯ Third, ventilatory support strategies should be aimed at maximizing patient comfort and unloading the respiratory muscles. Fourth, patients who require prolonged ventilatory support beyond the intensive care unit should go to specialized facilities that can provide gradual reduction of support. Fifth, many of these management objectives can be effectively carried out with protocols executed by nonphysicians.
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Dual-control ventilation modes were introduced with the goal of combining the advantages of volume-control ventilation (constant minute ventilation) and pressure-control ventilation (rapid, variable flow). Dual-control ventilation modes have gained popularity despite little evidence to support routine use. ⋯ Inspecting the waveforms will lead clinicians to the realization that dual-control does not guarantee a set tidal volume and that variability in delivered tidal volume is greater with dual-control than with pressure control. These realizations have important implications for low-tidal volume strategies.
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Graphical waveforms have become ubiquitous in clinical care. Using and understanding pictures and symbols is a daily activity. Humans are neurologically equipped to understand symbolic information and have done so for millennia. ⋯ Didactic study, frequent viewing, and understanding of the background of the artist (artistic context) are needed to fully appreciate art. Using waveforms to care for patients requires understanding of the clinical context under which they are obtained, factors that affect their creation, and artifacts that interfere with interpretation. This article summarizes the presentation and discussions at this Journal Conference on ventilator waveforms in relation to lung and chest wall compliance, resistance, carbon dioxide kinetics, hemodynamics, specific modes of ventilation, specific lung diseases, and ventilator-weaning.