Respiratory assistance device for patients with spontaneous ventilation allowing maintenance in the airways of a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure during the entire respiratory cycle.

The CPAP mode of ventilation allows:

• to recruit collapsed alveoles
• to restore a satisfactory level of functional residual capacity
• to improve gas exchange at the level of the alveolocapillary membrane
• to decrease pulmonary resistance
• to decrease the work of breathing
• to redistribute the alveolar liquid to the interstitial space in case of acute pulmonary oedema.

The Boussignac CPAP and its manometer connector is a device for connection to a face mask with its 22 mm male connector, the crenellated upper part remaining open to the air.

This device comprises 2 lateral ports:

• the upper port is preconnected to a an extension tube (length 200 cm) for connection to an air or oxygen source
• the bottom port (colourless translucent) allows: controlling pressure (use manometer code 527.01), an additional oxygen supply if the gas administered to the patient via the upper port is air, CO2 monitoring.

The CPAP Boussignac emergency kit includes:

• 2 Boussignac CPAP with integral oxygen extension tube and manometer connecting tube (code 5570.13),
• 3 face masks (1 mask code 5557.45 for small adult, 1 mask code 5557.55 for medium adult, 1 mask code 5557.65 for large adult),
• 1 fixation harness (code 5559.01),
• 1 manometer for CPAP (code 527.01),
• 1 manometer attachment cord,
• 1 syringe 20ml (for inflating / deflating the cuff of the mask),
• 1 nebuliser (code NB-31193),
• 1 FiO2 regulator (code 5566.01).

Note: The air or oxygen flowmeters available in the hospital only deliver an amount of gas of 15 l/min. This is not sufficient for the Boussignac CPAP to work properly. A flowmeter delivering 30 l/min of gas (or more) is absolutely necessary. But from country to country the flowmeter connection to the source of gas is different.
This is the reason why the CPAP emergency kit code 5562.700 is supplied without flowmeter. Each country can thus use the flowmeter specifically needed there.

However, Vygon supplies also CPAP emergency kits with 30 l/min flowmeter:

• code 5562.802 CPAP emergency kit with oxygen flowmeter code 5563.02 (AFNOR Standard – France),
• code 5562.841 CPAP emergency kit with oxygen flowmeter code 5563.41 (BSI Standard – UK),
• code 5562.842 CPAP emergency kit with oxygen flowmeter code 5563.42 (DIN Standard – Germany).

How it works: The gases administered to the patient (air, air-oxygen mixture or pure oxygen) pass through the extension tube and arrive in a circular chamber where the gases can only escape into the central zone passing through 4 micro-channels. At that moment, the injection speed of the gases is greatly increased. Deflector at the exit site of the micro-channels eject the gases arriving at high speed towards the opposite wall.

The collision of gas molecules between themselves generates a turbulence which creates a virtual valve and simultaneously the speed of gases is transformed in pressure. This pressure depends directly on the flowrate: if the flowrate (the amount of gas injected) is increased, the pressure will increase; if the flowrate is decreased, the pressure will decrease.

N.B.: It is possible to connect the Boussignac CPAP to an endotracheal tube or to a tracheostomy tube using the adaptor code 555.01 together with an artificial nose such as Hygroflux code 501.01.