A new heat and moisture exchanger for laryngectomized patients: Endotracheal temperature and humidity

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the endotracheal temperature and humidity and clinical effects of 2 models of a new heat and moisture exchanger (HME): Rplus, which has regular breathing resistance, and Lplus, which has lower breathing resistance. METHODS: We measured endotracheal temperature and humidity in 10 laryngectomized patients, for 10 min each, with and without the HMEs. We sequentially tested 4 HME models (all Atos Medical, Hörby, Sweden), in randomized order: Rplus, Lplus, Provox Normal (the HME we regularly use and which we considered the reference HME), and Stomvent (an older HME model). We also assessed the short-term clinical and practical effects of the Rplus and Lplus in a prospective 3-week trial with 13 laryngectomized patients. RESULTS: Rplus and Lplus had better humidification than Provox Normal (6.8 mg H2O/L, 4.3 mg H2O/L, and 3.7 mg H2O/L, respectively, P