EPR

[sherryl10]

I have a Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset.  One of the settings in the clinical menu is EPR.  There are a couple of settings under EPR.  What is EPR and I'd appreciate any suggestions for setting it.

[OpalRose]

Hi sherryl10,
EPR, known as Exhalation pressure relief is a CPAP feature that lowers the pressure on a CPAP machine when the patient exhales in an effort to make breathing more comfortable. Exhalation pressure relief offers three settings: 1, 2 or 3, with each number signifying the degree of pressure reduction. (A setting of 1 provides the least pressure relief; a setting of 3 provides the greatest relief).

According to your profile, are you using your Auto in Cpap mode at a pressure of 8?  If so, then if you set EPR to 2, when you breathe out, the pressure will drop to 6 to make it easier to exhale.  

If you want to use this feature, a good starting point would be to set it to 2.

For those that experience an increase in Clear Airway events, it's probably best to use a setting of 1 or off.