Respiratory mechanics during anesthesia in humans

This thesis provides the first systematic measurements of respiratory mechanics in humans anesthetized with halothane. Measurements were made both in anesthetized and anesthetized-paralyzed states. Both active and passive elastance and flow resistance values of the total respiratory system are presented. Next, the passive mechanics data are partitioned into lung and chest wall components. As this partitioning is based on measurements of esophageal pressure, a simple method for validating the esophageal balloon-catheter technique for indirect measurement of pleural surface pressure has also been developed, and applied to anesthetized subjects. In addition, lung mechanics has been studied in awake normal subjects in different body postures (sitting, supine, right and left lateral decubitus). The present approach can be readily extended to investigate the effects of other anesthetics and drugs used in conjunction with anesthesia on respiratory mechanics