Nick Mark MD Profile picture
Dec 11, 2022 20 tweets 9 min read Read on X
Here's a physiology case that *everyone* who touches a ventilator needs to understand:

A 60 yo woman is intubated for hypoxemia from multifocal pneumonia.
She has a SpO2 of 89% on PEEP +12 and 100% FiO2.
PEEP is increased to +16 & her SpO2 drops to 80%!

What happened?

1/
Before we get into the answer, let's make it interesting with some multiple choice.

Which mechanism(s) could cause worsening hypoxemia with increasing PEEP?

2/
Wow! 6000 votes! Im amazed by how many people share my love for 🫁 physiology!

I’ll post the answer tomorrow. If you can’t wait there’s a complete explanation on #MedMastodon.

(Btw I’ll posting answers sooner along with bonus content there from now on)
med-mastodon.com/@nick/10949932…
The answer is ALL of the above!

PEEP can cause hypoxemia due to intra-pulmonary (everyone) and intracardiac shunt (some people), & by decreasing cardiac output (occasionally)!

But why? To answer, we need to understand what PEEP is & what effects it has on the heart & lung.
3/
Positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) is the pressure above atmospheric applied in between breaths while on a ventilator.

PEEP is beneficial for 2 reasons:
1️⃣ it recruits collapsed lung (see👇)
2️⃣ higher P drives more O2 into the blood (Henry's law)

4/
As an aside, the benefits of PEEP were discovered *accidentally*.

In 1967, two doctors spotted an unfamiliar knob on the ventilator labeled "expiratory retard" & - not knowing what it did - decided to give it a turn.

Nowadays we call that knob PEEP!
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28731363/
5/
So we understand why PEEP can help, but why can it be *harmful*?

We need to understand the relationship between lung volumes & blood flow.

Let's take a closer look. With an electron microscope we can see that alveoli are surrounded by a dense network of blood vessels.
6/
There's a dynamic relationship between alveoli inflation & blood flow.

As the alveoli become more inflated, blood flow through these dense intra-alveolar vessels decreases. This increases the pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR).

7/
PVR is lowest at Functional residual capacity (where normal tidal breathing occurs). PVR increases with both lower or higher lung volumes.

(btw, this is an important fact to remember when managing RV failure & PA hypertension too)

8/
Excessive PEEP overdistends alveoli & decreases blood flow through the intra-alveolar vessels responsible for gas exchange.

It also increases blood flow in the extra-alveolar blood vessels that don't participate in gas exchange.

This causes intra-pulmonary shunt & hypoxemia!
8/
Another factor to consider is that PEEP may be uniform, especially if different areas have different compliance.

Areas of the lung affected by pneumonia may not be recruitable, but normal areas may be overdistended by too much PEEP. This too worsens intra-pulmonary shunt.
9/
Now that we understand how PEEP effects the lungs, we also must consider how PEEP effects the heart.

We've already talked about how larger volumes can increase PVR. This increases RV afterload & right sided pressures.

For the 25% of the population with a PFO, this matters!
10/
One study found that the two biggest predictors of right to left shunt through a PFO were the degree of RV dilation & higher plateau pressures. Excessive PEEP can increase both!
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Be suspicious if a small change in PEEP causes a big drop in SpO2.
11/
Finally, let's consider the effects of PEEP on cardiac output.

PEEP decreases venous return because of increased intrathoracic pressure. Depending on volume status a decrease in preload *usually* decreases CO.

(great explanation @derangedphys)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
12/
Decreasing CO has many effects (hypotension, reflex tachycardia, decreased UOP, etc).

But why can low CO worsen hypoxemia?
Recall that low CO drops SvO2. If your SvO2 drops enough it will worsen hypoxemia. This is the SIXTH cause of hypoxemia.

See my ICU OnePager for more
13/
So now that you're experts in the physiology of PEEP, let's put this all together.

There are 2 mechanisms where PEEP can improve oxygenation:
1️⃣ alveolar recruitment
2️⃣ higher mean airway pressure (Henry's law)

14/
And 3 mxns where PEEP can worsen hypoxemia:
1️⃣ intra-pulmonary shunt (overdistension of alveoli & shunt into extra-alveolar vessels)
2️⃣ intra-cardiac shunt (via a PFO; in the 25-30% of people who have one)
3️⃣ decreased CO (particularly in people with low CO at baseline)

15/
The best (and fastest) way to evaluate for 2️⃣ & 3️⃣ is with point of care ultrasound.

Looking for bubbles in the LA after agitated saline can help spot a PFO. Measuring LVOT VTI at different PEEPs can be very helpful in titrating. Remember to r/o PTX too!

15/
It's very helpful to compare measurements at different PEEP values to help find the "sweet spot" for oxygenation, compliance, and cardiac output. Something like this (though maybe with a column for LVOT VTI):

Source: advances.massgeneral.org/pulmonary/arti…
16/
I hope you've enjoyed this thread.

To learn more about this important topic, including a really nice deep dive into the physiology, I *highly* recommend this paper by @basakcoruhUW & Andy Luks.

atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.151….

17/17

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More from @nickmmark

Oct 13
#HurricaneHelene damaged the factory responsible for manufacturing over 60% of all IV fluids used in the US, leading to a major national shortage.

As clinicians what can we do to about the #IVFluidShortage and how can we prevent this crisis from happening again?

A thread 🧵
1/ Image
There are many things we can do as clinicians to improve ICU care & reduce IVF use.

1️⃣Don't order Maintenance IV Fluid!
Almost no patient actually needs continuous IV fluids.
Most either need resuscitation (e.g. boluses) or can take fluid other ways (PO, feeding tube, TPN).
2/
Frequently if someone is NPO overnight for a procedure, MIVF are ordered.
This is wrong for two reasons.
We are all NPO while asleep & don't need salt water infusions!
We should be letting people drink clears up to TWO HOURS before surgery, per ASA.

3/ pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology…Image
Read 16 tweets
Oct 1
New favorite physiology paper: Central Venous Pressure in Space.

So much space & cardio physiology to unpack here including:
- effects of posture, 3g shuttle launch, & microgravity on CVP
- change in the relationship between filling pressure (CVP) & LV size
- Guyton curves!
1/

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To measure CVP in space they needed two things:
📼 an instrument/recorder that could accurately measure pressure despite g-force, vibration, & changes in pressure. They built & tested one!
🧑‍🚀👩‍🚀👨‍🚀 an astronaut willing to fly into space with a central line! 3 volunteered!
2/
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The night before launch they placed a 4Fr central line in the median cubital vein & advanced under fluoro.

🚀The astronauts wore the data recorder under their flight suit during launch.

🌍The collected data from launch up to 48 hrs in orbit.
3/
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Read 16 tweets
Jul 16
The media silence on this is deafening.

Did he have a head CT? What did it show?
Did he have stitches? Tetanus shot?

The NYT ran nonstop stories about Biden’s health after the debate but can’t be bothered to report on the health of someone who was literally shot in the head?
To the people in the replies who say it’s impossible because of “HIPPA”
1. I assume you mean HIPAA
2. A normal presidential candidate would allow his doctors to release the info. This is exactly what happened when Reagan survived an assassination attempt.
washingtonpost.com/obituaries/202…
My advice to journalists is to lookup tangential gunshot wounds (TGSW).

Ask questions like:
- what imaging has he had?
- what cognitive assessments?
- has he seen a neurosurgeon or neurologist?
- he’s previously had symptoms like slurred speech, abnormal gait - are these worse?
Read 4 tweets
Jun 30
You've probably heard "don't give lactated ringers because it raises lactate"

This statement is ~98% false, but there's one crucial practice-changing fact that you need to know.

A 🧵 all about lactic acid and lactated ringers!
1/
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First off, we should ackowledge the obvious: Lactated ringers does in fact contain lactate... 28 mEq/L in fact

BUT there's one little detail to remember:
Lactate ≠ Lactic acid

When we measure "lactate" we care about the ACID (H+) which lowers pH & causes organ dysfunction
2/ Image
But the correlation between pH & lactate is really bad!

Look at this analysis of lactate vs pH in 171 ICU patients.

There is a *weak* correlation in people with arterial lactate > 5, but even w/ lactate =10, pH ranged from 7.5 to 7.05. Quite a spread!

3/ ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
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Read 10 tweets
Jun 13
If you intubate you need to read the #PREOXI trial!
-n=1301 people requiring intubation in ED/ ICU were randomized to preoxygenation with oxygen mask vs non-invasive ventilation (NIV)
-NIV HALVED the risk of hypoxemia: 9 vs 18%
-NIV reduced mortality: 0.2% vs 1.1%

#CCR24
🧵
1/

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Hypoxemia (SpO2 <85%) occurs in 10-20% of ED & ICU intubations.

1-2% of intubations performed in ED/ICU result in cardiac arrest!

This is an exceptionally dangerous procedure and preoxygenation is essential to keep patients safe.

But what’s the *BEST* way to preoxygenate?
2/
Most people use a non-rebreather oxygen mask, but because of its loose fit it often delivers much less than 100% FiO2.

NIV (“BiPAP”) delivers a higher FiO2 because of its tight fit. It also delivers PEEP & achieves a higher mean airway pressure which is theoretically helpful!
3/
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Read 15 tweets
Jun 12
Results from #PROTECTION presented #CCR24 & published @NEJM.
- DB RCT of amino acid infusion vs placebo in n=3511 people undergoing cardiac surgery w/ bypass.
- Reduced incidence of AKI (26.9% vs 31.7% NNT=20) & need for RRT (1.4% vs 1.9% NNT=200)

Potential game changer!

🧵
1/
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I work in a busy CVICU & I often see AKI following cardiac surgery.

Despite risk stratification & hemodynamic optimization, AKI remains one of the most common complications after cardiac surgery with bypass.

Even a modest reduction in AKI/CRRT would be great for my patients.
2/ From Nature reviews nephrology  https://www.nature.com/articles/nrneph.2017.119
During cardiac surgery w/ bypass, renal blood flow (RBF) is reduced dramatically. This causes injury, especially in susceptible individuals.

But what if we could use physiology to protect the kidneys?

Renal blood vessels dilate after a high protein meal increasing RBF & GFR!
3/ https://www.jtcvs.org/article/S0022-5223(18)33243-4/fulltext
Read 11 tweets

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