Resp Care
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Airway inflammation in acute and chronic respiratory diseases is characterized in part by abnormal pH in airway-lining fluid. The pH of exhaled-breath condensate (EBC) is low (acidic) in various pulmonary inflammatory diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Because the time course of pH changes in the airway is not yet clear, we aimed to develop a method for frequent and intensive EBC pH data collection in mechanically ventilated patients. ⋯ Continuous monitoring of EBC pH from the ventilator exhaust port is safely achievable and reliably provides data that may become useful in monitoring critically ill patients.
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Since there is a growing use of analgesia and sedation in spontaneously breathing patients undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic interventions, recommendations by national societies of anesthesiologists call for the application of capnometry during all anesthetic procedures. ⋯ Both the Tosca and Microcap Plus provide just an approximate estimation of P(aCO2). Clinical use of these monitors can not be proposed under actual conditions but will be advantageous after correction of the limiting errors.