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Continuing Education in Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain 2008 8(6):199-203; doi:10.1093/bjaceaccp/mkn039
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© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia [2008]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Portable ventilators

Stuart Fludger, MB ChB BSc(Hons) FRCA
Specialist Registrar, Anaesthesia
Alder Hey Hospital
Eaton Road
Liverpool L12 2AP
UK

Andrew Klein, MBBS FRCA
Consultant, Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care
Papworth Hospital
Papworth Everard
Cambridge CB3 8RE
UK
E-mail: andrew.klein@papworth.nhs.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


Key points

A portable ventilator should be lightweight, robust, and able to function in demanding environments with little maintenance.
Most portable ventilators display the oxygen concentrations selected by the operator, and do not measure that delivered by the ventilator.
Portable ventilators may not provide identical support to the ICU machine in use despite apparently similar settings; a trial period should always be allowed before moving the patient.
Portable ventilators that assist spontaneously breathing patients are more complex and generally require microprocessor control.
Alternatives to oxygen cylinders such as oxygen concentrators and liquid oxygen should be considered for prolonged use outside of hospital.

 

Mechanical ventilators used in intensive care units are sophisticated devices. The guiding principle in their design is the provision of optimal lung ventilation. They incorporate precise but sizeable pneumatic components intended to utilize piped gases and mains electricity. However, when transporting patients receiving ventilatory support, these devices are . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   General applications
 

   Gas supplies
 
Gas blending


   Types of portable ventilator
 
Portable gas-powered ventilators

Microprocessor-controlled ventilators

Box 1. Clinical example of the use of a portable ventilator.


   Electrical supplies
 

   Patient circuits and valves
 

   Specialist applications
 
Aeromedical

Paediatrics

Domiciliary ventilation

Non-invasive ventilation


   Conclusions
 

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