A method for measuring tidal volume and lung compliance in intubated neonates in the presence of endotracheal tube leakage.
Leakage around the uncuffed endotracheal tube is a major cause of error in the measurement of tidal volume and compliance in intubated neonates. A correction for the leakage can be made if the intratracheal pressure is measured during inflation provided the compliance is linear and the inflation flow is held constant. A two parameter function is given that describes the pressure-time relationship under the above mentioned conditions. The validity of the function has been tested using a model of the system tube-trachea-lung. In practice, the calculation is done from data obtained by graphical analysis of the pressure-time curve.
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal; D008170:Lung Compliance; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008954:Models, Biological; D011817:Rabbits; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D013990:Tidal Volume