Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 2, 142-155, Copyright © 1955 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Respiratory Physiology in relation to Anaesthesia

¹ Medical Director, Institut Lavoisier, 5757 Rosemount Blvd., Montreal 36

A general review of the nervous and chemical controls of the respiration has been made.

We have then presented data on ventilation and arterial blood, before, during, and after pulmonary resections in 19 cases, showing that hypoventilation exists and is responsible for the respiratory acidosis that always accompanies the increase in CO₂ content and in _pCO₂.

The effects of CO₂ retention on heart and central nervous system during anaesthesia and in the recovery period have been re/iewed.

It was suggested that hypoventilation be prevented by means of a ventilatory mechanical cevice or a manual control with a flow meter, maintaining the ventilation at the preanaesthetic level.

It was also suggested that physiological tests might be made on subjects who have chronic respiratory disease in orcer to find their respiratory reserves.

Note:

Presented at a meeting of the Society of Anaesthesiology of Montreal, December 13, 1954.