Drug Nebulization During Mechanical Ventilation

Abstract

Humans have been using the inhalational route for administering medication, both therapeutic and recreational for many centuries (Anderson 2005). The term inhaler was first used in the English literature in the eighteenth century (Sanders 2007; Rubin 2010). A great deal of creativity has gone into the naming of inhaler devices, some of which have deservedly been cast onto the ash heap of history including the volatilizer, varoma, vapo-haler, spirit burner, vapo-cresoline, pillow inhaler, atomizer, inspirator, pipe medicator, pulverisateur, and the ammoniaphone. At one time, various forms of inhaled tobacco smoke were thought to be therapeutic. In 1571, a Spanish doctor named Nicolas Monardes wrote a history of medicinal plants of the new world, in which he claimed that tobacco could cure 36 health problems. Cigarettes were developed for the treatment of asthma that were made of an anticholinergic substance and were available for purchase up until the 1970s (Elliott and Reid 1980). This chapter will focus on the administration of medications via inhalation during mechanical ventilation of infants and children.