Humidity and the Anesthetized Patient

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Abstract
Damage to the ciliated cells of the tracheobronchial tree and incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications were measured by point-scoring systems in 202 patients who breathed dry and humidified anesthetic gases for 225 .+-. 78 min. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications decreased as the humidity of administered anesthetic gases increased from 0-32.5 mg H2O/l. A similar relationship was found between the amount of inhaled moisture and the damage to the ciliated epithelium of the tracheobronchial tree. A high inspired humidity is apparently beneficial for operations on normothermic patients, and cellular damage caused by dryness is a possible contributory factor in the production of the pulmonary atelectasis that follows stoppage of the mucociliary transport system in the immediate postoperative period.
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