Resp Care
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Endotracheal intubation can lead to iatrogenic trauma to the upper airways. Superficial mucosal tears in the mouth, pharynx, or larynx are common and can cause secondary infection and acute respiratory distress due to massive air leak. We report a patient who sustained a severe 5-cm tracheal laceration and subcutaneous emphysema after intubation. She was successfully weaned from the ventilator after adjustment of the endotracheal cuff, therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics, and continuous airway humidification.
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To describe survival outcomes with noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for full ventilatory support, and a mechanically assisted cough and oximetry protocol in a series of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. ⋯ Continuous NIV along with mechanically assisted cough and oximetry as needed can prolong life and obviate tracheotomy in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Unweanable patients can be decannulated and extubated to NIV plus mechanically assisted cough.
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Review
Optimizing the respiratory pump: harnessing inspiratory resistance to treat systemic hypotension.
We review the physiology and affects of inspiration through a low level of added resistance for the treatment of hypotension. Recent animal and clinical studies demonstrated that one of the body's natural response mechanisms to hypotension is to harness the respiratory pump to increase circulation. That finding is consistent with observations, in the 1960s, about the effect of lowering intrathoracic pressure on key physiological and hemodynamic variables. ⋯ While breathing has traditionally been thought primarily to provide gas exchange, studies of the mechanisms involved in animals and humans provide the physiological underpinnings for "the other side of breathing": to increase circulation to the heart and brain, especially in the setting of physiological stress. The existing results support the use of the intrathoracic pump to treat clinical conditions associated with hypotension, including orthostatic hypotension, hypotension during and after hemodialysis, hemorrhagic shock, heat stroke, septic shock, and cardiac arrest. Harnessing these fundamental mechanisms that control cardiopulmonary physiology provides new opportunities for respiratory therapists and others who have traditionally focused on ventilation to also help treat serious and often life-threatening circulatory disorders.