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J. DAVID OSGUTHORPE, MD
Charleston, SC

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1988;114(2):119.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

John A. Ruth, Jr, MD, and collaborators, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore), recently reported their experience with helium-oxygen ventilation of 33 patients with respiratory distress. Their report, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Chicago, emphasized the theoretic advantages of an 80% helium and 20% oxygen (or 70% helium and 30% oxygen) mixture compared with air or other commonly used gas mixtures. The former has less than a third of the density of air, resulting in less turbulent and laminar flow around partial airway obstructions. This mixture also has a high thermal diffusivity and is less supportive of combustion when utilized with the laser. In the series of patients these authors describe (mean age, 31 years), a helium-oxygen mixture was associated with decreased stridor and respiratory effort, as well as a stable or improved arterial oxygen saturation. Applications for helium-oxygen mixtures include partial obstruction . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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