Improving Ventilation in Anesthetized Pigs: Impact of Adding a Second APL Valve on Breathing Effectiveness
Originally Published here
Spontaneous breathing of pigs during general anaesthesia may not be very effective. This may be related to the chest wall elastance and marked tendency of the lung to collapse in young pigs (Liu et al 1999). Resistance of the breathing system may also contribute to poor ventilation by increasing the work of breathing. Most of the resistance of a breathing system is associated with expiration (Kay et al 1983, Ooi et al, 1993), so this study was designed to discover if adding a second adjustable pressure limiting valve (APL) to a circle system would improve ventilation in anaesthetised pigs (by reducing resistance).