A New Ventilatory Assister for Patients with Respiratory Acidosis

Abstract

INADEQUATE alveolar ventilation leads to retention of carbon dioxide, with accompanying respiratory acidosis. Most patients with chronic obstructive emphysema die with this complication. The importance of infection, sedation and the incautious use of oxygen in the pathogenesis of ventilatory failure has been well described,^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11} and the necessity of increasing alveolar ventilation is stressed.^{5 , 9 10 11 12 13 14} A variety of mechanical aids and chemical stimuli are recommended.^{10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24} The mechanical assisters in current favor in this country are the various devices for intermittent positive-pressure breathing. Several observations indicate that in patients with advanced disease, this therapy may not be successful,^{9 , 25 , 26} and Jones et al.²⁶ recently . . .