We report the case of a 76-year old male patient who was able to discontinue home oxygen therapy (HOT) after developing severe pneumonia, for which he was hospitalized on February 17, 2004.We first administered antibiotics. Although blood inflammatory response markers became negative, his hypoxemia persisted, and HOT was introduced.We subsequently administered Seihaito, without changing his other oral medications. Hypoxemia and his general condition then improved remarkably. In the end, the patient was able to discontinue HOT. This case may demonstrate an ability of Seihaito to contribute to respiratory tract clearance, and inhibit inflammatory response in the alveoli.
Oxygen Therapy Care ; Pneumonia ; Hypoxemia ; After values ; Home

Recommendation of oxygen therapy must include clear indication and benefits of its use, appropriate prescription, vigilant monitoring and appropriate methods of delivery. Home oxygen therapy is expensive, inconvenient and cumbersome; it should be recommended only if benefits outweigh the disadvantages and adverse effects of oxygen. GPs play an important supportive and supervisory role in the use of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) to improve mortality of patients with chronic hypoxaemia. Prescription of short burst oxygen therapy (SBOT) for palliation of breathlessness is without clear evidence of its efficacy. GPs can prescribe SBOT when other secondary causes of breathlessness are excluded or treated, when breathlessness is not relieved by other treatments and if an improvement can be documented in patients.
Oxygen Therapy Care ; Role ; benefits ; seconds ; General Practitioners

OBJECTIVES: The effectiveness of the active humidification systems (AHS) in patients already weaned from mechanical ventilation and with an artificial airway has not been very well described. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of an AHS in chronically tracheostomized and spontaneously breathing patients. METHODS: Measurements were quantified at three levels of temperature (Tdegrees) of the AHS: level I, low; level II, middle; and level III, high and at different flow levels (20 to 60 L/minute). Statistical analysis of repeated measurements was performed using analysis of variance and significance was set at a P<0.05. RESULTS: While the lowest temperature setting (level I) did not condition gas to the minimum recommended values for any of the flows that were used, the medium temperature setting (level II) only conditioned gas with flows of 20 and 30 L/minute. Finally, at the highest temperature setting (level III), every flow reached the minimum absolute humidity (AH) recommended of 30 mg/L. CONCLUSION: According to our results, to obtain appropiate relative humidity, AH and Tdegrees of gas one should have a device that maintains water Tdegrees at least at 53degrees C for flows between 20 and 30 L/m, or at Tdegrees of 61degrees C at any flow rate.
Humans ; Humidity ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Patient Care ; Respiration ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Therapy ; Tracheostomy ; Ventilator Weaning ; Water

PURPOSE: As the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) began to cover home oxygen therapy (HOT) services from 2006, it is expected that the new services have contributed to overall positive outcome of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We examined whether the usage of HOT has helped slow down the progression of COPD. METHODS: We examined hospital claim data (N=10,798) of COPD inpatients who were treated in 2007~2012. We performed chi2 tests to analyze the differences in the changes to respiratory impairment grades. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors that are associated with the use of HOT. Finally, a generalized linear mixed model was used to examine association between the HOT treatment and changes to respiratory impairment grades. RESULTS: A total of 2,490 patients had grade 1 respiratory impairment, and patients with grades 2 or 3 totaled 8,308. The OR for use of HOT was lower in grade 3 patients than others (OR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.30~0.37). The maintenance/mitigation in all grades, those who used HOT had a higher OR than non-users (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.23~1.61). CONCLUSION: HOT was effective in maintaining or mitigating the respiratory impairment in COPD patients.
Home Care Services ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Logistic Models ; Lung Diseases, Obstructive* ; National Health Programs ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Oxygen* ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Respiratory Mechanics

Based on the construction experiences of our hospital, we in this paper introduce some problems met with in the central gas-supply, and meanwhile we have presented several solutions and preventive measures for the reference of other hospitals.
Delivery of Health Care ; organization & administration ; Equipment Safety ; Equipment and Supplies, Hospital ; Gases ; economics ; supply & distribution ; Maintenance ; Oxygen ; economics ; supply & distribution ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; instrumentation

INTRODUCTION: Respiratory failure is common in immunocompromised patients. Intubation and mechanical ventilation (MV) is the mainstay of treatment but is associated with increased risk of pneumonia and other complications. Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an alternative to MV in a select group of patients and aims to avoid the complications of MV. In these patients, we performed a meta-analysis on the effect of NIV versus conventional oxygen therapy in reducing intubation rates and other important clinical outcomes.

METHODS: We performed an extensive online and unpublished data search for relevant studies that met the inclusion criteria. Randomized controlled trials that used NIV versus conventional oxygen therapy in immunocompromised patients with respiratory failure were included in the metaanalysis. Eligbility and risk of bias assessments were performed independently by three authors. The primary outcome of interest was intubation and mechanical ventilation rate. The secondary outcomes were intensive care unit (ICU) and all-cause mortality, ICU length of stay and duration of mechanical ventilation.

RESULTS: Out of the twenty initially screened studies, four studies with a total of 553 patients met the criteria for inclusion and were included in the analysis. Patients given NIV were 38% less likely to be intubated vs. those given oxygen, RR 0.62 (95%CI 0.42,0.93); however, this analysis result is significantly heterogenous. After sensitivity analysis, results showed 48% less likelihood of intubation and mechanical ventilation in the group treated with NIV, RR 0.52 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.35,0.77]. Patients on NIV had 1.18 days less stay in the ICU vs. oxygen group (95%CI -1.84,-0.52 days ).

Three studies included ICU mortality in their outcomes and showed a 54% decrease in ICU mortality among patients given NIV, RR 0.46 (95% CI 0.17, 1.29), however this result is non-significant and heterogenous I2=58%. There was no statistically significant decrease in all-cause mortality between the two groups, RR 0.77 (95% CI 0.53,1.11). After a sensitivity analysis performed specifically for this outcome, results showed a 32% reduction in all cause mortality in patients given NIV vs. oxygen therapy, however was not statistically significant RR 0.68 (95% CI 0.53-1.11) and was heterogenous I2=50%. There is no difference in the duration of mechanical ventilation between groups.

CONCLUSION: In immunocompromised patients with respiratory failure, NIV reduced intubation rates, and length of ICU stay, compared to standard oxygen therapy. This intervention also showed trend toward ICU and all-cause mortality reduction.

Human ; Noninvasive Ventilation ; Respiration, Artificial ; Oxygen ; Confidence Intervals ; Length Of Stay ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Intensive Care Units ; Pneumonia ; Intubation ; Immunocompromised Host

Recently burn care system in Korea has been changing from 'general care' to 'specialized care'. Consequently, most physicians and surgeons who do not work in burn centers could rarely have an opportunity to gain experience in burn care. Before being transferred to a burn center, every burn patient is usually treated primarily by the non-experts. Therefore, all primary physicians need to know the primary care for burns. The main components of the primary care are pre-hospital care, emergency room (ER) care, and decision-making process for the transfer of the patients to a burn center. Pre-hospital care and ER care are on the same spectrum, and composed of the advanced trauma life support (ATLS) primary survey, wound cooling, pain control, fluid therapy, high concentration oxygen therapy, cyanide antidote therapy, and burn wound care including escharotomy. Rapid and proper management for smoke inhalation is essential for acute stage survival of burn patients. Once the patient is stabilized, a decision regarding his/her disposition to a burn center is critical. Inappropriate transfer of minor burn patients to burn centers imposes unnecessary cost and discomfort to the patients. The primary care for burns is very important and medical personnel who are in charge of burn patients should be familiar with it.
Advanced Trauma Life Support Care ; Burn Units ; Burns ; Emergencies ; Fees and Charges ; Fluid Therapy ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Korea ; Oxygen ; Primary Health Care ; Smoke

This study was attempted to prove the effect of emotional stability and vital signs applying music therapy program to the children admitted in the PICU. Data were collected from July to September, 1997. The subjects were 30 patients admitted in the PICU of 'S' University Hospital which were divided into two groups of experimental and control. Each group had 15 subjects. Method was nonequivalent control group pretest-postteset repeated design, observing vital signs and activity of subjects prior, during, and after the music intervention. The study tools were cassette tapes of "Mother's music whose babies want to listen" and Space-lab patient monitor. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/PC+; x2 test and t-test to analyze of the general characteristics; paired t-test to prove hypo-theses. Result were as follows; 1. Infants lower than seven months showed changing into stable vital signs from applying the music therapy, however infants from eight months to three-year old showed no change in vital signs. 2. Vital signs changed to stabilized condition in infants lower than seven months were heart rate and respiration rate. 3. The stability of vital signs during music therapy turned back to the previous state while terminating music therapy. 4. The effect of music therapy in the state of activity had on both infants group of lower than seven months and from eight months to three-year old, particularly more effective in the later group. I recommend follows on the base of above results; 1. As above results shows, listening to music is effective on infants and toddler, intervention with music therapy appropriate to chidlren's age is hot recommended. 2. Comparative study with noise blocking effect and music therapy effect within the ICU environment be recommended. 3. The repeated study on when the exact time is and how many repeat the music therapy to show the above mentioned effect be recommended. 4. We recommend this music therapy to be done in the recovery room, isolating room, operating room as well as ICU.
Child ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Infant ; Intensive Care Units* ; Critical Care* ; Music Therapy* ; Music* ; Noise ; Operating Rooms ; Oxygen* ; Recovery Room ; Respiratory Rate ; Vital Signs*

INTRODUCTION: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread on an unprecedented scale from around the world, we described our experience in treating early COVID-19 cases in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational study of COVID-19 patients admitted to a tertiary care centre in North India between 2 March-4 April 2020 was performed. The clinical, epidemiological, laboratory, treatment and outcome data of patients were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients were treated and 56 (74.66%) were men. The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 ranged from asymptomatic to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Fever (85.36%) was the most common symptom followed by cough (56.09%) and dyspnoea (19.51%). Findings from hemogram analysis showed that 32%, 21.33% and 18.67% of patients had lymphopaenia, eosinopenia and thrombocytopaenia, respectively. Inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, D-dimer, ferritin, fibrin degradation product and interleukin-6 were significantly elevated ( <0.05) in patients who required oxygen therapy than those who did not require it, suggesting the potential role such markers could play in predicting prognosis in patients. Mean hospital stay was 9.2 days and 72 (96%) patients made a complete recovery, but 3 (4%) patients demised after progressing to ARDS. CONCLUSION The clinical and epidemiological spectrum of COVID-19 has jeopardised the health system in India. Without a proven therapy to combat this pandemic and with no sight of vaccines in the near future, a preventive strategy should be adopted to contain the spread of this infectious disease.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Betacoronavirus ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Coronavirus Infections ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; India ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Symptom Assessment ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Young Adult

Apnea ; therapy ; Catheters ; Continuous Positive Airway Pressure ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Premature, Diseases ; therapy ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Oxygen Inhalation Therapy ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn ; therapy ; Ventilator Weaning