Volume-Pressure Relations of the Respiratory System of Curarized Infants

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Abstract
Static volume-pressure relations of the total respiratory system were measured in 34 healthy infants paralyzed by intravenous d-tubocurarine. The values reported are of practical interest when applied to anesthetic, therapeutic and resuscitation techniques used for infants. These values are not significantly different from the static total compliances measured in a comparable group of infants in a previous study, in which muscular paralysis was achieved with intramuscular succinyl-choline. Data are presented which demonstrate 2 parallel relationships in the infant between the static total compliance, measured in this study, and the dynamic lung compliance, reported by others. First, the similarity of the values for total compliance and lung compliance indicates that the infant''s chest wall compliance, alone, is quite high. Second, the close relation observed here between total compliance and the third power of body weight approximates the relationship reported for lung compliance and body weight.