1997 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
All That Jazz ... The New Infant/Pediatric Ventilators
Charles B. Spearman, MSEd, RRT, Monday, December 8, 1997.
Providing ventilatory support to the infant and pediatric populations presents unique challenges to the clinician, including variable leaks around uncuffed endotracheal tubes, small diameter tubes with high flow resistance, patients with variable breathing patterns, etc. The new generation of mechanical ventilators attempts to meet some or all of these challenges by providing methods of ventilation with more patient control, better clinician choices and improved monitoring of pressure, flow and volume. Some ventilators attempt to adjust automatically to problems of leak compensation when PEEP is used, provide patient regulated variability of inspiratory times during pressure limited ventilation, provide automatic adjustment for high flow resistance of small airways, and provide pressure support and volume targeted ventilation. Graphic displays available on the new ventilators providing time based pressure, flow and volume as well as loops using two of these variables can also be useful to the clinician as monitoring tools. A comparison of features of the current infant/pediatric ventilators is presented.
AARC 50th Anniversary, December 6 - 9, 1997, New Orleans, Louisiana.