Use of anesthesia machine as a mechanical ventilator in COVID-19 patients in Critical Areas of Hospital de Especialidades Carlos Andrade Marín (in Spanish)

Abstract

Currently the COVID-19 pandemic produced by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARSCoV-2) Coronavirus type 2, anticipates a demand for a mechanical ventilators, the World Health Organization (WHO), reports that 5% of infected people rapidly fall into respiratory failure and require intensive care.4. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which temporarily approved the use of the anesthesia machine (AM) as a Mechanical Ventilator (MV). The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) together with the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF), issued a statement acknowledging that anesthesia machines are not designed to deliver long-term ventilation support, however, they have become the first natural line of support during the pandemic, when there are not enough ventilators in critical hospital areas. Countries such as Chile, through the Society of Anesthesiology of Chile (SACHA), have implemented these recommendations prior to a technical report. Similarly, in the Technical Unit of Anesthesiology and through this protocol, it is trying to standardize the management of AM with several recommendations, so they can be used in the safest and most effective way, since the use of anesthesia machines as a MV "is a dangerous maneuver". In this way, this protocol provides guidelines in order to give mechanical ventilation assistance to patients who require the use of AM for COVID-19 diagnosis, facing the impossibility of having an Intensive Care Ventilator (ICV).