A Physician Has Selected a Pressure Support Protocol to Wean

question 23

Multiple Choice

A physician has selected a pressure support protocol to wean a patient off ventilatory support. Which of the following pressure levels would you recommend to begin the weaning process?

• A) Pressure sufficient to obtain a V_T of 3 to 5 ml/kg of predicted body weight (PBW)
• B) Pressure sufficient to overcome the imposed workload
• C) Pressure sufficient to obtain a V_T of 4 to 8 ml/kg PBW
• D) Pressure equal to 30% of the volume-cycled peak inspiratory pressure

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Definitions:

Biogeochemical Cycle

A natural process involving the circulation and transformation of chemicals in the Earth's ecosystems.

Food Webs

Complex networks of predators and prey showing the feeding relationships between organisms within an ecosystem.

Carbon Cycle

The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the environment, chiefly involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, decay of organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.

Trophic Levels

The levels in an ecosystem, representing a step in the food chain or food web, characterized by organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.