There is little literature on this issue and practiced differ tremendously from one hospital to another. Some hospitals change the circuits Shen they are broken (.yes, some people are poor), most on a weekly basis, and some even after each patient. It is a very grey zone. and a permanent source of useless waste.
Dear Paul, we don't change the breathing circuits routinely. In fact, the standard is not changed or at least do that the least possible, and the guidelines (attached files) recommend this. I don't see the need to do this routinely.
Kind regards
Gustavo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Breathing system filters - every case
CO2 Absorbant - when it is depleted
Tubing - every 2-3 days
Surprisingly I was told by our RT team that they change it once a month! I thought I heard it wrong and asked another one and got the same answer.
Dear Teng Jing Ru, the afirmation of respiratory therapists of your institution is not entirely wrong. There isn't evidence to support the systematically circuit change. In my first answer I attach the guidelines of the American Association of Respiratory Care (AARC) with the recommendations of this.
Kind regards