Comparison of the Efficiency of Mouth-to-nose Breathing With Mouth-to-mouth Breathing

The purpose of this study is to find out the best way of providing artificial breathing during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Current standard CPR involves giving mouth-to-mouth breathing to people requiring CPR. The rescuer pinches the person's nostrils closed and breathes into the mouth of the unconscious person with his or her own mouth. Some CPR studies have shown that it might be easier and more effective to breathe air into a person's nose instead of the mouth. People receiving CPR often have blocked airways, so breathing into the mouth does not always work. We think mouth-to-nose breathing may be more efficient and easier to do. In this case, the rescuer closes the person's mouth by pushing the jaw up and holding it still. Then the rescuer breathes into the unconscious person's nose by covering the nose entirely with his or her mouth. We are doing this study to try to find out which way works better. We will perform both ways of breathing on people who are unconscious (asleep) before planned (non-emergency) surgery and compare their effectiveness.