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Tracheal tube cuff pressure
Author(s) -
WILLIS B. A.,
LATTO I.P.,
DYSON A.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1988.tb08983.x
Subject(s) - cuff , medicine , tracheal tube , intubation , inflatable , anesthesia , surgery , tracheal intubation , tube (container) , materials science , mechanical engineering , engineering , composite material
Summary Seventy‐one adult patients (31 male, 40 female) who presented for surgery underwent orotracheal intubation with Portex Blue Line standard cuff disposable tubes (9‐mm for males, 8‐mm for females). The tracheal tube cuff was inflated by a trained assistant using a syringe and the initial cuff pressure measured; the minimum cuff pressure required to prevent respiratory gas leakage was also measured and the cuff pressure maintained above this pressure throughout the operation by means of the Cardiff Cuff Controller. Initial cuff pressure values averaged 11.9 k Pa for males and 13.5 k Pa for females compared with minimum cuff pressure values of 5.2 and 1.2 k Pa, respectively. The differences between initial and minimum pressures were statistically highly significant (p ≪ 0.001). It is concluded that the present method of inflation may lead to gross overinflation of tracheal tube cuffs and that cuff pressure monitoring may be performed simply by means of an electropneumatic controller. The difference in minimum cuff pressure between males and females suggests that the difference in tracheal size between the sexes is greater than the 9‐mm to 8‐mm difference in tracheal tube size.