O2 management of an airway

Question 1

Lowest –> highest forms of O2 delivery

Answer 1

• Nasal cannula - 2-4L max
• Venturi (Hudson) mask - 2-15L
• Non-rebreathe mask - 15L
• Bag-valve mask - used in cardiac arrest
• IGel

Question 2

Nasal cannula

Answer 2

• 2-4L flow rate
• 24-30% O2
• Adv - can eat, speak, comfortable
• Dis - non reliable O2 delivery if mouth breathers esp, any flow higher than 4L irritates nasal passages

Question 3

Venturi masks colour order

Answer 3

Low –> High:
* Blue 2L = 24%
* White - 4L - 28%
* Yellow - 8L - 35%
* Red - 10L - 40%
* Green - 15L - 60%

Question 4

Non-rebreathe mask flow and percentage

Answer 4

15L flow rate
80-85% O2

Question 5

How to increase O2 delivery while wearing nebuliser?

Answer 5

Add nasal cannula

Question 6

Max flow rate of nebuliser

Answer 6

6-8L/minute

Question 7

Airway adjunct options

Answer 7

• IGel - definitive airway but not sealed circuit, has to be removed when defibbed but can do asynchronous compressions
• Nasopharyngeal adjuncts - used when seizing/fitting and cannot access mouth
• Oropharyngeal adjuncts - stop tongue covering airway

Question 8

What should paO2 be if on O2 therapy - using O2 saturation for each therapy?

Answer 8

Whatever percentage of O2 the patient is on, we would expect the paO2 to be 10 less than this
eg on air, O2 is 21% and normal kPa is around 10-13.
On 15L non-rebreathe mask with 80-85% O2, we would expect paO2 to be 70-75kPa

Question 9

What do we need to give pt if giving high flow O2 over more than 12hrs?

Answer 9

Nebulised saline - helps stop drying lungs out