Standardized Unloading of Respiratory Muscles during Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist: A Randomized Crossover Pilot Study.

What We Already Know About This Topic: WHAT THIS ARTICLE TELLS US THAT IS NEW: BACKGROUND:: Currently, there is no standardized method to set the support level in neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA). The primary aim was to explore the feasibility of titrating NAVA to specific diaphragm unloading targets, based on the neuroventilatory efficiency (NVE) index. The secondary outcome was to investigate the effect of reduced diaphragm unloading on distribution of lung ventilation.

Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist feasibility during anaesthesia: A randomised crossover study of two anaesthetics in a large animal model.

Background: Spontaneous breathing during mechanical ventilation improves gas exchange by redistribution of ventilation to dependent lung regions. Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) supports spontaneous breathing in proportion to the electrical activity of the diaphragm (EAdi). NAVA has never been used in the operating room and no studies have systematically addressed the influence of different anaesthetic drugs on EAdi.

Amino acid infusion during anesthesia attenuates the surgery induced decline in IGF-1 and diminishes the "diabetes of injury".

Background: Surgery, commonly performed after an overnight fast, causes a postoperative decline in the anabolic and glucose lowering insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Clinical fasting studies have exhibited a positive correlation between IGF-1 and nitrogen balance during different conditions. A perioperative amino acid infusion changes nitrogen balance and might thereby influence serum IGF-1.

Modern wireless telecommunication technologies and their electromagnetic compatibility with life-supporting equipment.

Hospitals rely on pagers and ordinary telephones to reach staff members in emergency situations. New telecommunication technologies such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), the third generation mobile phone system Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) might be able to replace hospital pagers if they are electromagnetically compatible with medical devices. In this study, we sought to determine if GPRS, UMTS (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access-Frequency Division Duplex [WCDMA FDD]), and WLAN (IEEE 802.

Evaluation of Bluetooth as a replacement for cables in intensive care and surgery.

Unlabelled: In today's intensive care and surgery, a great number of cables are attached to patients. These cables can make the care and nursing of the patient difficult. Replacing them with wireless communications technology would facilitate patient care.