New device for delivering volatile anesthetics to patients in the ICU

medGadget:

“Volatile anesthetics like isofluorane or sevofluorane, usually used in the operating room, have a much quicker wake-up time, but the size and cost of an anesthesia machine make them impractical for use in the ICU.

Sedana Medical (Uppsala, Sweden) seems to have overcome this limitation with the introduction of the AnaConDa (Anesthetic Conserving Device). The device features a syringe pump that delivers Isofluorane or Sevofluorane to a small carbon-fiber device which goes in-line with a traditional ICU ventilator. In many ways, this can be considered a disposable anesthetic vaporizer.
This month’s Anesthesia & Analgesia features a study that validated this device in an ICU setting and found that it is quite accurate (end-tidal concentration was within 13% of target concentration). Advantages of this device, in addition to quick wake-ups, include lower cost of the equipment as compared to traditional vaporizers and an overall decreased consumption of anesthetic.”

When I worked in the pediatric ICU we would use volatile anesthetics like sevoflurane on rare occasion. It was always quite an ordeal as the equipment necessary to deliver the gas wasn’t exactly portable. Anyway, the AnaConDa is a pretty cool piece of hardware.

You can get more information on The AnaConDa at the product website.

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