continuous positive airway pressure


continuous positive airway pressure

 (CPAP) a method of ventilation" >positive pressure ventilation used with patients who are breathing spontaneously, done to keep the alveoli open at the end of exhalation and thus increase oxygenation and reduce the work of breathing. When the same principle is used in mechanical ventilation, it is called pressure" >positive end-expiratory pressure.

con·tin·u·ous pos·i·tive air·way pres·sure (CPAP),

a technique of respiratory therapy, in either spontaneously breathing or mechanically ventilated patients, in which airway pressure is maintained above atmospheric pressure throughout the respiratory cycle by pressurization of the ventilatory circuit.

continuous positive airway pressure

n. A technique of respiratory therapy for either spontaneously breathing or mechanically ventilated patients in which airway pressure is maintained above atmospheric pressure by pressurization of the ventilatory circuit.

continuous positive airway pressure

Critical care A type of artificial ventilation, in which the lung pressure is maintained above atmospheric pressure during the entire respiratory cycle. See PEEP.

con·tin·u·ous pos·i·tive air·way pres·sure

(CPAP) (kŏn-tin'yū-ŭs poz'i-tiv ār'wā presh'ŭr) A technique of respiratory therapy, in either spontaneously breathing or mechanically ventilated patients, in which the mean airway pressure is maintained above atmospheric pressure throughout the respiratory cycle by pressurization of the ventilatory circuit.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)

A ventilation device that blows a gentle stream of air into the nose during sleep to keep the airway open.Mentioned in: Sleep Apnea, Snoring