Abstract
Background: Current evidence suggests hypocarbia is associated with the development of brain injury. Therefore ventilation strategies that reduce excessive CO2 removal could be beneficial.
Aims: To assess whether introducing a volume limit facility resulted in fewer babies with recorded episodes of hypocarbia (pCO2< 4.6 kPa).
Methods: Infants receiving mechanical ventilation from 01/09/2008-31/08/2009 were identified and data was collected for the 48 hours following initiation of mechanical ventilation. This was compared with audit data from 2006 prior to the introduction of the volume limit mode. Data was analysed using unpaired t test.
Results: 67 infants received mechanical ventilation during the above period. Five infants were excluded (charts incomplete). There were 36/62 infants with no recorded episodes of hypocarbia in the first 48 hours compared to only one infant from the 2006 audit. Volume limit function was used in 45/62 infants.
Conclusion: Overall, there was a marked improvement in CO2 control especially when volume limit function was used. This may have been due to multiple factors including increased staff awareness and volume limit facility.
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Mallya, P., Gillespie, L. Does Volume Limit Reduce Episodes of Hypocarbia?. Pediatr Res 70 (Suppl 5), 527 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2011.752
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2011.752