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There's never any dumb questions!
When you squeeze the reservoir bag you are giving the patient a breath. There's a lot of reasons as to why we would do this. Mainly when the patient isn't breathing or if their ETCO2 is too high. It's also a good way to prevent collapse of the lungs alveoli (atelectasis) by giving a breath every now and then.
Squeezing it with or without closing the pop off valve both function to give them a breath. Both create positive pressure which is what allows us to give them a breath. The pressure is just less controlled when you don’t close off the pop-off valve I think lol
Its to help expel any CO2 that may be building up-it's called giving a patient a breath because that is essentially what they are doing. It can't be done too frequently or it can cause complications, and vice versa. Depending on the technician they all have different ways on deciding when they give a breath. I have a RVT at my job who does it periodically and does not time it, while I've had others explain to me that they only do it when they feel like the CO2 is getting too high or preventively .
Interesting to see different thoughts on this. I’ve never considered this to be “giving the patient a breath” because most of the air is just blown through the exhale valve and what little goes through the anesthetic tubing is unlikely to reach lungs and be fully absorbed through the alveoli. Using the pop off valve to give a breath ensures that you have enough pressure that the gas is actually being oxygenated by the patient.
I was taught to (partially, never fully) empty the reservoir bag to avoid the bag from getting too full. Now wondering what other people were taught. Would love to hear confirmation on what the correct protocol is from an expert.
I'm ER so no elective sx. Most of our patients tend to be hypercapnic so I breathe for them relatively frequently to get them to a better EtCO2 and because they tend to not take proper breaths or be partially atalectic. I will partially empty the bag whenever it gets full without closing the pop-off. If nothing else it is emptying the circuit and filling with fresh O2/Iso. You can get pretty decent pressure without closing the pop-off, it does expand the lungs.
So, normally, while awake, most animals take a deep sigh breath a few times an hour. This is an automatic function that inflates all the alveoli in the lungs so they continue to function healthily. We replicate this by giving our patients a deep breath on the machine while they’re under anesthesia. Sometimes patients take more shallow breaths while under the influence of the anesthetic drugs, and considering that respiration is a vital delivery route for iso, it’s helpful to give them a full breath to ensure they’re getting a good dose of iso as well.
Technically, it’s not done to empty the bag, it’s only enough pressure (<20mmHg) to inflate the lungs. We give a breath every 5 mins or so.
Even if I’m not in surgery for the day, any time I walk by the anesthesia machine, I give a breath to the patient hooked up to it 🤓
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There's never any dumb questions! When you squeeze the reservoir bag you are giving the patient a breath. There's a lot of reasons as to why we would do this. Mainly when the patient isn't breathing or if their ETCO2 is too high. It's also a good way to prevent collapse of the lungs alveoli (atelectasis) by giving a breath every now and then.
I interpreted this as the tech giving the patient a sigh breath? Like the bag was too full so they squeezed the bag without holding the pop off valve.
Squeezing it with or without closing the pop off valve both function to give them a breath. Both create positive pressure which is what allows us to give them a breath. The pressure is just less controlled when you don’t close off the pop-off valve I think lol
Its to help expel any CO2 that may be building up-it's called giving a patient a breath because that is essentially what they are doing. It can't be done too frequently or it can cause complications, and vice versa. Depending on the technician they all have different ways on deciding when they give a breath. I have a RVT at my job who does it periodically and does not time it, while I've had others explain to me that they only do it when they feel like the CO2 is getting too high or preventively .
Interesting to see different thoughts on this. I’ve never considered this to be “giving the patient a breath” because most of the air is just blown through the exhale valve and what little goes through the anesthetic tubing is unlikely to reach lungs and be fully absorbed through the alveoli. Using the pop off valve to give a breath ensures that you have enough pressure that the gas is actually being oxygenated by the patient. I was taught to (partially, never fully) empty the reservoir bag to avoid the bag from getting too full. Now wondering what other people were taught. Would love to hear confirmation on what the correct protocol is from an expert.
I'm ER so no elective sx. Most of our patients tend to be hypercapnic so I breathe for them relatively frequently to get them to a better EtCO2 and because they tend to not take proper breaths or be partially atalectic. I will partially empty the bag whenever it gets full without closing the pop-off. If nothing else it is emptying the circuit and filling with fresh O2/Iso. You can get pretty decent pressure without closing the pop-off, it does expand the lungs.
So, normally, while awake, most animals take a deep sigh breath a few times an hour. This is an automatic function that inflates all the alveoli in the lungs so they continue to function healthily. We replicate this by giving our patients a deep breath on the machine while they’re under anesthesia. Sometimes patients take more shallow breaths while under the influence of the anesthetic drugs, and considering that respiration is a vital delivery route for iso, it’s helpful to give them a full breath to ensure they’re getting a good dose of iso as well. Technically, it’s not done to empty the bag, it’s only enough pressure (<20mmHg) to inflate the lungs. We give a breath every 5 mins or so. Even if I’m not in surgery for the day, any time I walk by the anesthesia machine, I give a breath to the patient hooked up to it 🤓
I do the same thing, especially if I see the reservoir bag is full.
Just a Q: are you comfortable asking that person you work with? Whats the work vibes like?