Measurement of pulmonary CO2 elimination must exclude inspired CO2 measured at the capnometer sampling site

The pulmonary elimination of the volume of CO2 per breath (VCO2/br, integration of product of airway flow (V) and PCO2 over a single breath) is a sensitive monitor of cardio-pulmonary function and tissue metabolism. Negligible inspired PCO2 results when the capnometry sampling site (SS) is positioned at the entry of the inspiratory limb to the airway circuit. In this study, we test the hypothesis that moving SS lungward will result in significant inspired CO2 (VCO2[I]), that needs to be excluded from VCO2/br.

We ventilated a mechanical lung simulator with tidal volume (VT) of 800 mL at 10 breaths/min. CO2 production, generated by burning butane in a separate chamber, was delivered to the lung. Airway V and PCO2 were measured (Capnomac Ultima, Datex), digitized (100 Hz for 60 s), and stored by microcomputer. Then, computer algorithms corrected for phase differences between V and PCO2 and calculated expired and inspired VCO2 (VCO2[E] and VCO2[I]) for each breath, whose difference equalled overall VCO2/br. The lung and Y-adapter (where the inspiratory and expiratory limbs of the circuit joined) were connected by the SS and a connecting tube in varying order.

During ventilation of the lung model (VT = 800 ml) with SS adjacent to the inspiratory limb, VCO2[E] was 16.8 +/- 0.4 ml and VCO2[I] was 1.1 +/- 0.1 ml, resulting in overall VCO2/br (VCO2[E] - VCO2[I]) of 15.7 +/- 0.4 ml. If VCO2[I] was ignored in the determination of VCO2/br, then the %error that VCO2[E] overestimated VCO2/br was 7.2 +/- 0.3%. This %error significantly increased (p < 0.05, Student's t-test) when VT was decreased to 500 mL (%error = 12.4 +/- 0.8%) or when SS was moved to the lungward side of a 60 mL connecting tube (VCO2[I] = 2.8 +/- 0.2, %error = 18.2 +/- 1.6) or a 140 mL tube (VCO2[I] = 5.9 +/- 0.3 mL, %error = 37.5 +/- 3.3).

When the SS was moved lungward from the inspiratory limb, instrumental dead space (VDINSTR) increased and, at end-expiration, contained exhaled CO2 from the previous breath. During the next inspiration, this CO2 was rebreathed relative to SS (i.e. VCO2[I]), and contributed to VCO2[E]. Thus, VCO2[E] overestimated VCO2/br (%error) by the amount of rebreathing, which was exacerbated by larger VDINSTR (increased VCO2[I]) or smaller VT (increased VCO2[I]-to-VCO2/br ratio).