Sergio Silvestri
Università “Campus Bio-Medico” di Roma, Rome, Italy

Series: Medical Procedures, Testing and Technology
BISAC: MED108000

From an analysis of recent literature, mechanical, pneumatic, fluid-dynamic and thermo-hygrometric phenomena taking place in the system connecting the patient to the pulmonary ventilator (breathing circuit) seem to influence, and in a not always repeatable way, the pneumatic parameter values actually applied to the patient, the thermo-hygrometric state of the gas mixture, the response time to patient’s inspiration effort and the measurement of patient respiratory parameters. Probably, in order to better understand the reliability and clinical significance of monitoring results, it is necessary to address the study of pulmonary ventilation by considering the system ventilator-circuit-patient as a whole.

This work, which is intended to represent a food for though for the clinician and researcher dealing with pulmonary ventilation, has the aim to briefly address some causes of possible misleading information which can be obtained from these complex though fascinating machines for vital support. (Imprint: Nova)