Condensation problem with circuit

TEE · #1 03-14-2012, 10:20 AM

Hello,

My kiddo is vented 24/7 right now and we have problems with condensation in the circuit. We changed out the circuit on Sunday and have had wonderful nights with no alarms until last night when the water had built up. I have read on the board before about 'sleeves' that go over the circuit to prevent this but I don't know what to look for via the internet in my searches for these---does anyone know what they are called? Any tips would be most appreciated if anyone has suggestions for us to try. We've upped the heat in the house and that did stop the vent from alarming disc/sense due to water getting in the sense lines, but really we are back to the same issues.

Thank you!

sullyinCT · #2 03-14-2012, 01:59 PM

I have that problem with my daughter from time to time. She has to be kept cool because that seems to be the only real way to keep her comfortable and I've noticed also keeps her less junky. But the downside of that is it gets water in the tubing and messes with the humidifier. We wound up putting a small towel over the humidifier and it worked! You will always get some kind of condensation/water build-up in the tubing.

Christamae · #3 03-14-2012, 03:00 PM

Have you tried water traps? they help collect the water in the tube. we help dump the water in my traps and then empty the traps.

kadiera · #4 03-14-2012, 04:14 PM

Also, if you have more than a light mist on the inside of the tubing, you should try either turning the temp down or adjusting the relative humidity dial a bit to decrease the amount of water. Every time the weather changes here, we make adjustments.

TEE · #5 03-14-2012, 05:54 PM

We've not tried the water trap circuits but it seems that you would be dumping water every few minutes? Is that the case? How often would you dump the water? Our humidifier has no way to make adjustments as far as I can tell; an RT looked at it in our home and couldn't find where to turn it down/up either. Thanks for your suggestions. When we were in the hospital there was never condensation in the circuit and at home it is always there. It is a frustration not only for the alarms but water to be dumped into her trach which could cause major health problems....

kadiera · #6 03-14-2012, 07:32 PM

If it was me, and the RT couldn't figure out how to adjust the humidifier, I'd be asking for a new humidifier. Your equipment company should have someone who can tell you how to operate the equipment, and if not, you need a new provider.

Throwing a blanket over the circuit can help; it insulates the tubing a bit and minimizes the condensation, but I'd still be worried that the air your child is breathing is just too wet.

Water traps are great if you can get them at the right point in the circuit. I'd say the ones we had in the hospital held about 4 oz, so you can go a lot longer without dumping them. The trick is to get them at the lowest point in the circuit, and upright; that can be a challenge (I have a photo here somewhere of one in the hospital that someone had tied to the crib rail (so it was the highest point) and they'd tied it upside down....

emily · #7 03-15-2012, 01:23 PM

We have water issues and we keep a loop lower the humidifier lower than our son Luke on the IV pole and keep valleys that have the lowest point of the cicurt at the end by the humidifier (for both the intake and exhalation tubes). Our collect water and are emptied sometimes just once a night and sometimes a few times a night, depending on the time of year.

Also, our humidifier has two settings one is for interal (intubated or vent) patients and the other setting is cooler and is for a humidification mask over a trach. We use the cooler one, even though we put it through a vent and change the setting helped a lot. Ours was a button you had to push and hold right above the power button. I agree that if your RT or anyone at your DME can't work the equipment then it is time to change equipment or DME.

TEE · #8 03-15-2012, 02:27 PM

Well, it took some time (months) for us to have someone to provide vents to us to come home from the hospital. No one would so the insurance company bought the vents for us so we could go home---I had no clue that it was so hard to get equipment---I thought the hard stuff was being in the hospital, what a lesson.

I have found finally and ordered, sungglehose for the circuits to help prevent condensation, plus I am going to try some of your suggestions as well.

Thank you all for your input---this site/board has really been helpful to me.

jamie · #9 03-15-2012, 07:44 PM

TEE we had the same problem, my son lived in the hospital for over 6 months just waiting for a vent. We also have the same trouble with condensation. It seems to be worse in the winter when we are trying to keep his room warmer. Evan's circuits have two water traps and what the first doesn't catch the second should, but i tie the traps down at a level lower than his head so water doesn't have the ability to go all the way upo to his trach. I change his traps one or twice a night in the winter hardly ever in the summer.

TEE · #10 03-15-2012, 08:44 PM

Thanks! Our supplier is 6 hours away and is very helpful but we have no one that can come check out our vent or what we are doing---the RT basically comes out of the goodness of his heart, not officially. We've just been home since Sept. of last year so I think in the summer we wouldn't have this issue? We will try the water traps---Evan's situation sounds much like ours. We go for a bronc at the end of April so we are hopeful that the malacia has improved and that we might start trials, we are praying.