Nebulized drug delivery in patients breathing spontaneously through an artificial airway

摘要

During the past 25 years, incremental gains in knowledge about aerosol delivery to mechanically ventilated patients had a major impact on patient care in this setting. The complex array of factors influencing aerosol delivery during mechanical ventilation made it difficult to elucidate the contribution of individual parameters to optimal aerosol delivery. Over the ensuing years, bench models made invaluable contributions in elucidating the effects of each-variable on the efficiency of aerosol delivery and in determining methods to maximize drug deposition in the lung, despite the poor efficiency of aerosol-generating devices, the presence of a ventilator circuit and artificial airway, differing ventilator modes and ventilatory parameters, and in many clinical situations, the occurrence of severe lung disease in the patient.