Respiratory care
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Volutrauma has been established as the key factor in ventilator-induced lung injury and can only be avoided if tidal volume (VT) is accurately displayed and delivered. The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of displayed exhaled VT in a ventilator commonly used in small infants with or without a proximal flow sensor and using 3 methods to achieve a target VT in both a healthy and lung-injured neonatal pig model. ⋯ When the Servo-i ventilator is used in neonates, CCC or the in-line sensor should be employed due to the large positive bias and imprecision seen with CCC off and no sensor in-line.
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Peak expiratory flow (PEF) is a spirometric test that detects obstructive changes in the respiratory tract; has good correlation with the FEV1; and is much less expensive, simpler, and easier to perform under field conditions than FEV1. Chronic silicosis is also known to have obstructive features in advanced stages. Thus, this study was performed to assess the effect of silica exposure on PEF and the factors related to it. ⋯ Higher age, female sex, higher duration of exposure, and respiratory morbidity were found to be important correlates of PEF.