Exsufflation is a strongly forced expiration of air.
In medicine, airway secretions can be cleared with manual and mechanical exsufflation. Mechanical
insufflation
In religious and magical practice, insufflation and exsufflation are ritual acts of blowing, breathing, hissing, or puffing that signify variously expulsion or renunciation of evil or of the devil (the Evil One), or infilling or blessing with goo ...
-exsufflation devices (also known as In-Exsufflator, Cofflator, and cough machine) alternate positive and negative airway pressure to stimulate cough. It is typically used in patients with
neuromuscular disorders
A neuromuscular disease is any disease affecting the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the neuromuscular junction, or skeletal muscle, all of which are components of the motor unit. Damage to any of these structures can cause muscle atrophy and ...
and
sleep apnea
Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder in which pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep occur more often than normal. Each pause can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and they happen many times ...
.
[http://www.aetna.com/cpb/data/CPBA0067.html] After certain surgical procedures, the gases (such as
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
) used to expand body cavities are mechanically or manually exsufflated.
The term is also used of certain rituals in the Christian religion involving the blowing of air to remove evil spirits; these survive in Eastern Christianity, but between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries were progressively abandoned in the West. For details see
Insufflation
In religious and magical practice, insufflation and exsufflation are ritual acts of blowing, breathing, hissing, or puffing that signify variously expulsion or renunciation of evil or of the devil (the Evil One), or infilling or blessing with goo ...
.
See also
*
Insufflation (medicine)
Insufflation ( la, insufflare, lit=to blow into) is the act of blowing something (such as a gas, powder, or vapor) into a body cavity. Insufflation has many medical uses, most notably as a route of administration for various drugs.
Medical uses ...
,
Insufflation
In religious and magical practice, insufflation and exsufflation are ritual acts of blowing, breathing, hissing, or puffing that signify variously expulsion or renunciation of evil or of the devil (the Evil One), or infilling or blessing with goo ...
References
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Respiration