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I N H A L A T I O N A L
A N E S T H E S I A
tion with nitrous oxide, levels of 0.5 ppm are achievable. Nitrous oxide,
when used as the sole anesthetic agent, should be controlled so that no
worker is exposed at 8-hour time-weighted average concentrations of
>25 ppm during anesthetic administration, advises OSHA.
3. Better patient care
Low-flow anesthesia helps limit the risks of hypothermia and surgical
site infections by letting you better maintain a patient's core temperature and humidity level.
During the normal breathing process, the air that enters the 23 levels of division in the lungs is heated and humidified. The temperature
and humidity of breathed-in air aren't neutralized until the air reaches
the 4th level. Sending cold, dry volatile anesthetics into the lungs
makes that neutralization more difficult, which lowers a patient's core
temperature and humidity level.
When humidity levels drop, the normal functioning of the lungs'
mucus membranes is reduced, which inhibits breathing and could
lead to mucus plugs and ventilation difficulties.
Volatile anesthetics can exacerbate hypothermia issues for patients
already lying in cold ORs, without clothes, with large body surfaces
uncovered and with internal organs potentially exposed. They're
being injected with fluids that in most cases aren't heated to body
temperature and, because they're sedated, can't shiver to generate
muscle heat. All these factors combine to drop core temperatures,
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | F E B R U A R Y 2013
