Respiratory care
-
Controlled Clinical Trial
Early respiratory therapy reduces postoperative atelectasis in children undergoing lung resection.
Early physiotherapy reduces pulmonary complications after lung resection in adult patients. However, the effectiveness and the techniques used in postoperative physiotherapy in children undergoing lung resection have not been well described. Therefore, the standardization of a physiotherapeutic attendance after lung resection in children is necessary. ⋯ Implementation of a standardized physiotherapeutic protocol after lung resection in children decreases atelectasis but does not reduce the time of chest tube removal or the duration of hospital stay.
-
Case Reports
Massive intractable hemoptysis due to idiopathic granulomatous pulmonary veno-occlusive disease.
Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease is a rare condition with limited treatment options. The pathological hallmark of the disease is occlusion of pulmonary venules and small veins in the lobular septa. The etiology of the disease remains obscure. We report and discuss an extremely unusual case presenting as massive and intractable hemoptysis, in which pulmonary venous occlusion was attributed to granulomatous venulitis in the absence of other pulmonary or systemic inflammatory abnormalities.
-
Pulmonary hypertension is an independent risk factor for death in patients with COPD. Current prognostic models of COPD do not include sufficient indicators of right ventricular (RV) function to enable accurate assessment of changes in RV function over time. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that it would be useful to include noninvasive markers of RV function in the routine assessment and prognostic models of early stage COPD with or without pulmonary hypertension. ⋯ It may be valuable to add assessment of RV function to the routine evaluation of physical status in patients with COPD.
-
Use of respiratory therapist (RT)-guided protocols enhances allocation of respiratory care. In the context that optimal protocol use requires a system for auditing respiratory care plans to assure adherence to protocols and expertise of the RTs generating the care plan, a live audit system has been in longstanding use in our Respiratory Therapy Consult Service. Growth in the number of RT positions and the need to audit more frequently has prompted development of a new, computer-aided audit system. ⋯ The new, computer-aided audit system increased capacity to audit more RTs performing RT-guided consults while preserving accuracy as an audit tool. Ensuring that RTs adhere to the audit process remains the challenge for the new system, and is the rate-limiting step.