A physician is using a pressure support protocol to wean a patient off ventilatory support. The patient is now at a 5 cm H2O pressure level and has a spontaneous respiratory rate of 21/min
Other cardiovascular and respiratory signs indicate that the patient remains stable. Which of the following actions would you recommend at this point?
a. Switch the patient to 5 cm H2O continu-ous positive airway pressure (CPAP) through the endotracheal tube.
b. Extubate the patient and provide supple-mental O2.
c. Switch the patient to intermittent manda-tory ventilation at a rate of 2/min.
d. Decrease the pressure support level to 3 cm H2O.
ANS: B
In general, patients who can spontaneously breathe comfortably at this level of pressure support can be extubated without problems.
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