CHEN Fengjia
  • Medical Intensive Care Unit, First Affiliated Hospital of Sue Yat-sen University. Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510080, ChinaCorresponding Author: ZENG Mian, E-mail: zengmian2004@ 163. com;
Mechanical ventilation; Ventilator; Alarm
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Objective  To analyze the common causes of ventilator alarms during mechanical ventilation and their management. Methods  A total of 104 ventilator alarms that were not instantly solved by first-line residents but referred to pulmonary therapist and attending physicians during September 2007 and August 2008 in the MICU of our hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Results  Of all the 104 ventilator alarms, 27 ( 26%) were due to problems of ventilation circuits; 18 were due to patient effort
against ventilator secondary to anxiety, horror or pain; 15 were due to inappropriate ventilator parameters;13 were due to airway problems; 5 were due to ventilator malfunction; 4 were due to worsening clinical status; 22 were due to other causes. Conclusion  During mechanical ventilation, accurate assessment and
prompt management of ventilator alarms are of great importance to patient safety and ventilation efficacy.

Citation： CHEN Fengjia,YI Hui,ZENG Mian. Analysis of the Causes of 104 Ventilator Alarms. Chinese Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2010, 9(6): 564-566. doi: Copy