Emergency ventilation with the Ventrain through an airway exchange catheter in a porcine model of complete upper airway obstruction.

Purpose: During difficult airway management, oxygen insufflation through airway-exchange and intubating catheters (AEC/IC) can lead to life-threatening hyperinflation. Ventrain was originally designed to facilitate emergency ventilation using active expiration through short, small-bore cannulas. Herein, we studied its efficacy (oxygenation and ventilation) and safety (avoidance of hyperinflation) in a long, small-bore AEC.

Students insert the laryngeal tube quicker and more often successful than the esophageal-tracheal combitube in a manikin.

Background: Endotracheal intubation remains the standard of airway management. Because intubation skills are difficult to acquire, for medical students teaching of easier to learn techniques should be considered.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data that were collected in a University teaching facility.

The level of cardiac output affects the relationship and agreement between pulmonary artery and transpulmonary aortic thermodilution measurements in an animal model.

Objective: The authors investigated the relationship between pulmonary artery and transpulmonary aortic thermodilution cardiac output measurements under conditions of increasing cardiac output (CO).

Design: Animal study with repeated simultaneous measurements comparing 2 cardiac output measurement techniques.

Setting: Experimental animal facility of a university hospital.