The adsorption of inspired desflurane due to incorrectly mounted air dryer filter of the heated humidifier: A case report

Lee, Jeong Eun; Kwon, Oh Dae; Kim, Jong Chan; Ryu, Tae Ha

Case Report

General Article

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2013;8(2):141-144.
Published online April 30, 2013.

The adsorption of inspired desflurane due to incorrectly mounted air dryer filter of the heated humidifier: A case report

Jeong Eun Lee, Oh Dae Kwon, Jong Chan Kim, Tae Ha Ryu

¹Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Korea.
²Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, Daegu, Korea. anesryu@cu.ac.kr

Abstract

Heated humidifiers are used to prevent respiratory complications associated with mechanical ventilation with an endotracheal tube. One of the heated humidifiers uses an air dryer filter in order to remove humidity from air before it enters the anesthetic machine. We report a case in which the air dryer filter was unintentionally misconnected to the inspiratory limb of the circuit, which caused insufficient volatile anesthetic concentration during anesthesia induction.

Key Words: Air dryer filter, Desflurane, Humidity, Silica gel