We are all looking for ways to reduce bowel gas in our patients to improve our results. As the benefits of treating sleep apnea become more mainstream in society and as more individuals are relying on home CPAP therapy, I'm wondering if there is a significant impact on exam quality when we encounter a patient who sleeps with a CPAP machine. Fasting may reduce some bowel gas but a CPAP machine will result in some ingestion of air. Ironically, we try to schedule fasting exams for the morning when the effect of aerophagia would be more pronounced (trying to remain delicate in this topic). I would appreciate it if members would ask their (gassy) patients if they used a CPAP machine the night before their exam and let me know if there is any correlations suspected. It may be worth a formal study but so far it's just a thought experiment. Thanks for any input you might share in this regard. Steve Knight | Assistant Technical Director Vascular Ultrasound Core Lab | VasCore Training and Education Center Massachusetts General Hospital 1 Bowdoin Square, 10th Floor | Boston | MA | 02114 Office: +1-617-726-8859 | Fax: +1-<tel:617-726-5552>617-726-1977<tel:617-726-1977> Mobile: +1-802-238-6512 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> http://vascore.org<http://vascore.org/> Find us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/vascore-training-and-education-center-vtec- CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email contains information from the sender that may be confidential, legally privileged, proprietary or otherwise protected from disclosure. This email is intended for use only by the person or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying, distribution, printing, or any action taken in reliance on the contents of this email, is strictly prohibited. If you received this email in error, please contact the sending party by replying in an email to the sender, delete the email from your computer system and destroy any paper copies of the printed email. The information in this e-mail is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed. If you believe this e-mail was sent to you in error and the e-mail contains patient information, please contact the Partners Compliance HelpLine at http://www.partners.org/complianceline . If the e-mail was sent to you in error but does not contain patient information, please contact the sender and properly dispose of the e-mail. To unsubscribe or search other topics on UVM Flownet link to: http://list.uvm.edu/archives/uvmflownet.html