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J P Quinlan

Publications and source records attributed to J P Quinlan.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1977

Pulmonary function in the early postoperative period.

To the author's knowledge, an intensive investigation of pulmonary function during the first 2 postoperative days has not previously been reported. Consequently, in this study the effect of regional surgery on respiratory function, monitored every 4 h during the first 2 postoperative days, was analyzed. Hypoxaemia was a constant finding in all patients undergoing general anaesthesia. The degree and duration of hypoxaemia and spirometry changes were related to the site of surgical incision. Clinical signs of atelectasis were commonly observed during the first postoperative day and occurred after the change in PO2 and spirometry. Atelectasis was more common in patients having upper abdominal surgery. The current investigation reveals that the earliest postoperative change indicative of atelectasis is the fall in PO2; that auscultatory changes do not always occur in the presence of postoperative hypoxaemia; that auscultatory signs are not indicative of the extent of the PO2 fall; and that radiology represents a crude method of assessing postoperative atelectasis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Postoperative hypoxaemia and oxygen therapy.

To observe the duration of hypoxaemia 8 patients were monitored every day for the first 7 days following upper abdominal surgery. Three of these patients who had failed to regain their preoperative PO2 value by the seventh postoperative day were further monitored on alternate days until the fourteenth postoperative day. A further 3 patients were similarly monitored on alternate days for 14 days. In another group of 10 patients blood gases were monitored every 4 h for the first 48 h following major abdominal surgery, during which time the patients were given 35 per cent oxygen for the first 24 h after operation. (All patients in this group had a diminished respiratory reserve preoperatively to a sufficient degree to warrant admission to the intensive therapy unit postoperatively, and these patients were treated with oxygen for 24 h, as is the practice in our unit and in other surgical units.) Oxygen was administered using a Ventimask at 8 l/min (British Medical Journal, 1972). Nine of the 10 patients did not show postoperative hypoxaemia while being treated with 35 per cent oxygen, although the PO2 value attained were lower than expected. On withdrawal of oxygen after 24 h, the PO2 decreased below preoperative levels in all patients. The PO2 of 7 patients in this group decreased below 8 kPa during the second 24 postoperative hours, in 4 of whom the level fell below 6-7 kPa. Some recommendations to improve the respiratory care of the surgical patient are presented.

Adult↗