An infant on high-flow nasal cannula also requires administration of albuterol every 6 hours.The flow of the cannula was adjusted from 4 to 5 liters per minute.How could this affect the aerosol delivery to this infant?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Heliox has been shown to reduce turbulence and improve aerosol delivery in a range of clinical settings.Ari and colleagues assessed the effects of heliox on medication delivery by comparing with 100% oxygen while testing the infant,pediatric cannulas running at flows of 3 and 6 Lpm,and adult cannulas running at 10 and 30 Lpm.At higher flows they found that heliox increased aerosol deposition compared to oxygen.At lower flows there was less benefit from the use of heliox compared to oxygen in the pediatric and adult cannulas and no benefit for the infant.

An Infant on High-Flow Nasal Cannula Also Requires Administration of Albuterol