12-14-2023, 05:37 PM
Urgent Mask Leak Help
Hi there,
Thank you for reading this, I have a bit of an urgent mask leakage issue that I am trying to solve for my mother, I will try to keep the details as brief as possible but still explain the scenario:
My mother was involved in a serious car accident approx. 6 months ago, following which during her hospital stay she went into respiratory failure 3 times due to hypercapnia/hypoxemia with blood Co2 readings well over 100.
Each time they were able to successfully treat her with non-invasive ventilation using a BiPAP machine.
Their theoretical diagnosis was that she likely had severe sleep apnoea and some degree of COPD, as well as obesity hypoventilation syndrome which were previously undiagnosed and unknown to her, but they were reluctant to prescribe her CPAP or BIPAP therapy in the hospital setting and were adamant she would need to have the issue followed up as an out-patient.
However, after the third visit to ICU and realising that due to her significant lower body injuries from the car accident it would be too long of a wait for her to follow this up as an outpatient and they started her on COPD medication, puffers & BiPAP therapy with a loaned Philips Dreamstation machine from the hospital.
Fast forward approx. 5 weeks and she has now just been released from hospital to return home and will undergo physio for her lower body injuries from home, still with the loan BiPAP machine from the hospital and is booked in to see a respiratory specialist but that unfortunately won't be until the new year.
She is currently using a Fisher & Paykel Evora full face mask (the one that rests under your nose and goes down over your mouth) as she is a chronic mouth breather, however since she returned home we have noticed that she is suffering from severe mask leakage due to her jaw dropping while she is asleep.
She has to sleep on her back with an elevated head position due to injuries to her diaphragm sustained in the car accident so unfortunately side sleeping is not an option for her.
Her mask leakage due to her jaw drop is very severe and making the BiPAP therapy basically completely ineffective, resulting in her oxygen saturations dropping down into the low 80's when i tested her the past couple of mornings, it does quickly rise back to around 90 after waking and sitting up with a few deep breaths).
In summary, I am looking for urgent quick solutions before she ends up back in hospital, I understand there are chin straps, cervical collars & taping options available in order to keep her jaw closed, however I am not sure how she will fare breathing through her nose as she has never normally breathed through her nose while sleeping.
I spoke to one of her respiratory team members from when she was in ICU (the one who organised the machine for me) and he was kind of suspect of using straps/collars also saying we would need to be careful we don't cause a blockage using those, his advice was to try and find a full face mask that goes over the bridge of the nose as they may be more effective at preventing the jaw drop.
If anyone has any advice on a good mask to use to combat jaw drop that is compatible with the Philips Dreamstation BiPAP machine I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you and apologies for such a long post.
Thank you for reading this, I have a bit of an urgent mask leakage issue that I am trying to solve for my mother, I will try to keep the details as brief as possible but still explain the scenario:
My mother was involved in a serious car accident approx. 6 months ago, following which during her hospital stay she went into respiratory failure 3 times due to hypercapnia/hypoxemia with blood Co2 readings well over 100.
Each time they were able to successfully treat her with non-invasive ventilation using a BiPAP machine.
Their theoretical diagnosis was that she likely had severe sleep apnoea and some degree of COPD, as well as obesity hypoventilation syndrome which were previously undiagnosed and unknown to her, but they were reluctant to prescribe her CPAP or BIPAP therapy in the hospital setting and were adamant she would need to have the issue followed up as an out-patient.
However, after the third visit to ICU and realising that due to her significant lower body injuries from the car accident it would be too long of a wait for her to follow this up as an outpatient and they started her on COPD medication, puffers & BiPAP therapy with a loaned Philips Dreamstation machine from the hospital.
Fast forward approx. 5 weeks and she has now just been released from hospital to return home and will undergo physio for her lower body injuries from home, still with the loan BiPAP machine from the hospital and is booked in to see a respiratory specialist but that unfortunately won't be until the new year.
She is currently using a Fisher & Paykel Evora full face mask (the one that rests under your nose and goes down over your mouth) as she is a chronic mouth breather, however since she returned home we have noticed that she is suffering from severe mask leakage due to her jaw dropping while she is asleep.
She has to sleep on her back with an elevated head position due to injuries to her diaphragm sustained in the car accident so unfortunately side sleeping is not an option for her.
Her mask leakage due to her jaw drop is very severe and making the BiPAP therapy basically completely ineffective, resulting in her oxygen saturations dropping down into the low 80's when i tested her the past couple of mornings, it does quickly rise back to around 90 after waking and sitting up with a few deep breaths).
In summary, I am looking for urgent quick solutions before she ends up back in hospital, I understand there are chin straps, cervical collars & taping options available in order to keep her jaw closed, however I am not sure how she will fare breathing through her nose as she has never normally breathed through her nose while sleeping.
I spoke to one of her respiratory team members from when she was in ICU (the one who organised the machine for me) and he was kind of suspect of using straps/collars also saying we would need to be careful we don't cause a blockage using those, his advice was to try and find a full face mask that goes over the bridge of the nose as they may be more effective at preventing the jaw drop.
If anyone has any advice on a good mask to use to combat jaw drop that is compatible with the Philips Dreamstation BiPAP machine I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you and apologies for such a long post.
