Variations in the efficiency of albuterol delivery and intrapulmonary effects with differential parameter settings on intrapulmonary percussive ventilation

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Intrapulmonary percussive ventilation (IPV) is used for airway clearance and delivery of aerosol medications, including bronchodilators. Despite the common use of IPV for drug delivery, few data are available regarding optimization of inhalation therapy with IPV. In this study, we investigated the influence of IPV setting parameters and lung mechanics on drug delivery via IPV alone. METHODS: An IPV device was connected to a lung model via a trachea model and a flow analyzer. Albuterol nebulized from the IPV device was collected onto a filter attached between the trachea and lung models, and was quantitated by spectrophotometry (230 nm). RESULTS: Albuterol delivery to the lung model was increased up to 2.1-fold, with decreasing percussion frequency. Decreasing percussion frequency concomitantly increased the tidal volume, and albuterol delivery was correlated with tidal volume (r = 0.91, P