[Technical requirements for buying a heat and humidity exchanger for ventilation during anesthesia. French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care].

To prevent cross infection and to improve the management of anaesthetic circuits, the French society of anesthesia and intensive care recommended the use of heat and moisture exchange filter (HMEF). Buying a HMEF needs a procedure with different steps and a product request form must delineate precise needed requirements of the device. In the absence of standardized methods to assess filtration performance, required specifications are established from both manufacturer data and scientific published studies. Proposed purchasing method and criteria help the health care workers at the time of final decision for objective comparison between the different devices on the market.