title: Respirators and respiratory care.
abstract: The intellectual and technological roots of respirators and respiratory care may be traced back hundreds of years. The clinical evolution has taken the better part of a century, and it has been most closely linked to the development of open-chest surgery. Resuscitation and the treatment of poliomyelitis also have contributed ideas and technology to this evolution. If its successful performance had depended only on respirators, open-chest surgery would have become clinical routine 50-80 years ago. In fact, many factors had to be under control, many modes of treatment had to be available, before the breakthrough in open-chest surgery could occur. The most important factor may have been the effective control of sepsis and hemorrhage. Open-chest surgery forced the change from single-agent deep anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation to a balanced technique, using multiple drugs or agents, with controlled ventilation. Open-chest surgery also necessitated that physicians specialize in anesthesiology. Scandinavian scientists and physicians have contributed greatly to the field of respirators and respiratory care, as has the specialty of anesthesiology.
mesh_terms: D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000266:history; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D012138:Respiratory Therapy / Q000266:history*; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000266:history; D012122:Ventilators, Mechanical / Q000266:history*