| continuous positive airway pressure | A technique of respiratory therapy, in either spontaneously breathing or mechanically ventilated patients, in which airway pressure is maintained above atmospheric pressure throughout the respiratory cycle by pressurization of the ventilatory circuit. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| continuous positive pressure breathing | Artificial ventilation in which all inspirations are provided by positive pressure applied to the airway. Synonym: continuous positive pressure breathing, continuous positive pressure ventilation, intermittent positive pressure breathing, intermittent positive pressure ventilation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| continuous positive pressure ventilation | Synonym: controlled mechanical ventilation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| positive end-expiratory pressure | A technique used in respiratory therapy in which airway pressure greater than atmospheric pressure is achieved at the end of exhalation by introduction of a mechanical impedance to exhalation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| positive-negative pressure breathing | Inflation of the lungs with positive pressure and deflation with negative pressure by an automatic ventilator. (05 Mar 2000) |
| positive-pressure respiration | A method of mechanical ventilation in which pressure is maintained to increase the volume of gas remaining in the lungs at the end of expiration, thus reducing the shunting of blood through the lungs and improving gas exchange. (12 Dec 1998) |
| positive-pressure respiration, intrinsic | Non-therapeutic positive end-expiratory pressure occurring frequently in patients with severe airway obstruction. It can appear with or without the administration of external positive end-expiratory pressure (positive-pressure respiration). It presents an important load on the inspiratory muscles which are operating at a mechanical disadvantage due to hyperinflation. Auto-peep may cause profound hypotension that should be treated by intravascular volume expansion, increasing the time for expiration, and/or changing from assist mode to intermittent mandatory ventilation mode. (12 Dec 1998) |
| intermittent positive-pressure breathing | Application of positive pressure to the inspiratory phase of spontaneous respiration. See: controlled mechanical ventilation (12 Dec 1998) |
| intermittent positive-pressure ventilation | Application of positive pressure to the inspiratory phase when the patient has an artificial airway in place and is connected to a ventilator. See: controlled mechanical ventilation (12 Dec 1998) |
| airway | 1. Any part of the respiratory tract through which air passes during breathing. 2. In anaesthesia or resuscitation, a device for correcting obstruction to breathing, especially an oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airway, endotracheal airway, or tracheotomy tube. (05 Mar 2000) |
| airway obstruction | Any hindrance to the passage of air into and out of the lungs. (12 Dec 1998) |
| airway pattern | Chest radiographic appearance of thickened bronchial walls, bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis, or acinar consolidation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| airway resistance | The opposition of the tracheobronchial tree to air flow: the mouth-to-alveoli pressure difference divided by the air flow. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anatomical airway | The volume of the conducting airways from the external environment (at the nose and mouth) down to the level at which inspired gas exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide with pulmonary capillary blood; formerly presumed to extend down to the beginning of alveolar epithelium in the respiratory bronchioles, but more recent evidence indicates that effective gas exchange extends some distance up the thicker-walled conducting airways because of rapid longitudinal mixing. Compare: alveolar dead space, physiologic dead space. Synonym: anatomical airway. (05 Mar 2000) |
| respiratory airway | That part of the airway where interchange of gases occurs; it includes respiratory bronchioles, alveolar ducts, sacs, and alveoli. (05 Mar 2000) |