Respiratory care
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Recovery of walking independence in critically ill patients is required for safe discharge home. However, the pre-admission predictors affecting this outcome in this patient group are unknown. This study aimed to identify these predictors. ⋯ Pre-admission frailty or pre-frailty, cognitive impairment, and malnutrition risk can help predict walking independence in critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilation.
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The flow reaching the vocal folds may be lower than that at the output of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) system. This could be due to upper-respiratory obstruction, oxygen leakage, or other factors. The objective of this study was to observe the effect of flow through a nasopharyngeal airway on intrapharyngeal pressure (IPP) in subjects undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB). ⋯ HFNC can provide effective oxygen therapy for people undergoing FOB, and increases in IPP with flow in the range of 0-60 L/min may not increase the risk of reflux aspiration.
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The first aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to identify the effect of PEEP on regional ventilation distribution and the regional risk of collapse, overdistention, hypoventilation, and pendelluft in mechanically ventilated patients. The second aim was to evaluate the feasibility of EIT for estimating airway opening pressure (AOP). ⋯ Our results suggest that EIT could aid clinicians in making personalized and reasoned choices in setting the PEEP for subjects with ARDS.
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During invasive mechanical ventilation, where medical gases are very dry and the upper airway is bypassed, appropriate gas conditioning and humidification are mandatory at all times. Results of in vitro studies suggest that dry gases may improve lung deposition during nebulization, but this has not been confirmed through in vivo studies. The objective of this study was to measure gas humidity under multiple conditions to better describe gas hygrometry when heated humidifiers are turned off. ⋯ When heated humidifiers are turned off, gas humidity levels are very low but not as low as medical gases. The clinical impact of repeated shutdowns is unknown. As recommended, heated humidifiers should never be turned off during nebulization.