The physiology of a healthy normal person in the air-fluidized bed

Abstract

We studied the physiology of a 21-year-old healthy volunteer staying for 1 week in the air-fluidized bed. We believe that this experimental pattern is necessary to obtain a better knowledge and understanding of the basic physiological findings under these particular environmental conditions used as a routine with burned patients. Part I contains the results and discussion concerning the water balance, the sodium and potassium balances, central and skin temperatures. Part II contains the results and discussion concerning the caloric intake and nitrogen balance. The main conclusions of Part I are as follows: 1. 1 The insensible water loss is very high: 63·5 ml/h/m 2 BSA. 2. 2 The environmental conditions (temperature) are very heterogeneous and specific of the air-fluidized bed therapy. 3. 3 Biological data from blood and urine demonstrate a very good adaptation of the volunteer, spontaneously increasing the fluid intake. 4. 4 The increased potassium load (fluid) is excreted with the urine. 5. 5 The sodium balance is discussed. 6. 6 No significant change was demonstrated in central and skin temperatures compared with a control group, under the same environmental conditions, but in a normal bed. The main conclusions of Part II are: 1. 1 drinking ‘nitrogenic and caloric’ fluids the volunteer had, in fact, very high caloric and nitrogen loads, (average: 3637·5 Kcal = 15 242 KJ daily, 135·5 g protein daily 2. 2 the nitrogen balance was slightly positive 3. 3 the weight does not actually increase, but the nutritional assessment was demonstrated to be good using the creatinine height index 4. 4 the caloric load and consumption corresponding to 2·5 Kcal/min seems to be in relation with the very considerable water loss.