Acute Respiratory Failure

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Abstract
Controlled ventilation with the Morch piston respirator is a safe and effective means of therapy in acute respiratory failure. Sixty-eight % of a series of 28 patients with obstructive airway disease survived the acute episode of respiratory failure and 50% were discharged from the hospital. Rapid reduction of elevated arterial CO2 tension with concomitant increase in pH and O2 saturation could be accomplished in all patients, in most instances within the first hour. Few complications occurred secondary to respirator therapy and rapid reduction in arterial CO2 tension. In most instances, the clinical condition improved promptly, corresponding in time to the improvement in the arterial blood studies. Similar results have been reported with other types of volume-cycled respirators but have not been described using pressure-cycled machines. Reasons for failure with the latter respirator are not clear, but may relate to the flow rates of these machines.