A Randomised Control Trial to Compare the Pneupac VR1 Portable Ventilator and Manual Ven-tilation Via a Mapleson C- Circuit During the Intra-hospital Transfers of Intubated Patients

Following major head and neck surgery it may be necessary to keep patients intubated and ventilated for at least 12 hours to allow the swelling associated with the operation to subside. Therefore patients (participants) are transferred to the intensive care unit anaesthetised, in-tubated and ventilated. Current practice is that patients are manually ventilated, by hand, during transfer from the operating theatre to the intensive care unit.

Studies show that use of manual ventilation causes variability in respiratory parameters and blood gas values due to inconsistent ventilation. A study in 2003 found that portable ventila-tor provided more consistent ventilation and patients were less likely to have a disparity in their blood gases, oxygenation and ventilation.. However, conventional ventilators are bulky, heavy, expensive and few and far between in the hospital and, in particular, the pre-hospital setting. The Pneupac VR1 ventilator is simple to use, small, portable and durable. It is easy to clean, low cost, light weight and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible.

The study will aim to directly compare the efficiency and efficacy (ventilation rate and tidal volumes) of manual ventilation against a new device, VR-1 portable ventilator, by Smith-Medical. The device is CE approved. The RCT will compare the efficacy and efficiency during transfer of the patient from theaters to intensive care in our establishment. The endpoint will be arrival to the intensive care unit (ICU) and transfer onto the ICU ventilator. This will be measured by collecting the pCO2, taken from an already in-situ arterial blood gas (ABG), at two time points - (a) just before patient transfer from theaters to the intensive care unit and (b) upon arrival at the intensive care unit and just prior to transfer onto the ITU ventilator.