Acceptable Leak Level for S9???

[jpkman]

What would be the answer to that question, and do they make a Sleep Apnea for Dummies or a ResMed S9 for Dummies (or something similar)???

Thanks everyone!!!

[Pugsy]

I thought I answered your question about acceptable leak levels in 2 of your other threads. I would be happy to do it again if my explanation was unclear.

There is no ResMed for Dummies or any tutorial that gives acceptable numbers.

I will try one more time. If this isn't clear...could you specify what is unclear to you?

ResMed machines subtract the intentional leak/vent rate for your mask and your pressure before reporting the leak...so what you see reported is excess leak and thus unwanted.
ResMed says that they can adequately compensate for leaks up to 24 L/min... so technically anything below the 24 L/min line is "acceptable". Of course we try to keep it as low as possible.
I usually advise people to look at the leak line itself and not fixate on a "number" because the "number" can appear to be misleading if a large leak occurred or someone took the mask off and didn't turn the machine off.
If leaks are waking you up...even if the leak number is very close to 0.0...you will want to fix it the best you can because anything that wakes you up...you don't want.

For new people leaks can fluctuate wildly till you get things settled down. Even if you have a few short lived spikes above the 24 L/min line it isn't the end of the world. Look at the leak line itself..if only a few minutes at large leak..it won't impact therapy that much.

A few lucky people often see leak...0.0 L/min...while nice to see for some of us it is not a realistic goal.
If you are seeing a leak number around 15 L/min and the leaks aren't waking you up...you are fine. With time you will figure out how to maybe make it a little better. Leaks are something we always have to deal with. It is a war we never win...we just sometimes win a small battle for the night.

[Pugsy]

Here is an example of a night I had using a ResMed machine. This is a SleepyHead report and not ResScan but you can see what I mean. I had one episode of leak above the 24 L/min line. Nasal pillow probably came out. Didn't wake me up. The amount of time above the 24 L/min line is a little more that I would like to see but if you look at the rest of the night minimal leak. For this night..I shrug my shoulders and go on. If I was going to go on the "numbers" I would pay more attention to the average than I would the % number.

[jpkman]

Thanks Pugs, I really appreciate your patience as I usually need new concepts broken down to their simplest level along with numerous explanations.

I do believe that I now have a much better understanding of what the leak levels mean.

THANKS!!!

[Sheriff Buford]

Pugs: will resmed compensate a leak level up to 24L on straight cpap AND autoset mode or just on autoset?

Thanks, Sheriff (another dummy!! )

[Pugsy]

Pugs: will resmed compensate a leak level up to 24L on straight cpap AND autoset mode or just on autoset?

My understanding is that all the manufacturers say that can compensate for leaks up to whatever that manufacturer is comfortable with being either cpap or apap machines. How they do it is magic voodoo to me. Straight cpap machines obviously don't increase pressure like apaps do....so how do they compensate? Beats me unless it is a gentle pressure adjustment to maintain the stated pressure. I imagine the exact "how they do it" is mentioned somewhere deep in their literature and I haven't seen it. Up to a point some even apaps don't or won't increase pressure in response to a leak yet we are told the machine can "compensate" but I have never seen how they "compensate". Perhaps someone who had dug deeper into the algorithms has seen it or a better understanding of how it is done can comment.

When I use APAP...sometimes I see the machine respond to a leak with a bit of increase pressure and I can't blame it on any events (at least that I can see) and sometimes I see minor leaks with no pressure increase. Almost always any rather large leak is associated with a pressure increase on APAP and it doesn't seem to have to meet "Large Leak" definition per Respironics pitiful definition.

So to answer your question...I don't know. I am accepting the "compensate" statements at face value and just have faith that the machines do manage to compensate well enough to not hugely impact therapy when leaks are present but below the "line in the sand". Just to be extra cautious I strive for a little more wiggle room in regards to leaks.