Investigations of the Amount of Air and the Pressure for a Tracheal Tube Cuff

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: After intubation, it is recommended that, to sustain airway patency, about 10ml of air be infused to seal the airway and to prevent complications. At this step, sustaining a proper pressure level (18~24 mmHg) is most important because excessive pressure can cause diverse complications. We carried out a series of investigations to find a way to sustain a constant pressure level. METHODS: We gathered the cases of intubated patients for 6 randomly selected days during 2003 at HanGang Sacred Heart Hospital. Included were cases from emergency room, the intensive care unit, and the operating rooms; 30 cases were enrolled for this investigation. We used a cuff pressure control REF 701 (Tracoe(r), Mainz, Germany) to trace the cuff pressure. First, we measured the amount of air that was infused into the cuff and the cuff pressure. Then, we measured the amount of air after a proper level of cuff pressure had been achieved. RESULTS: We have found that out of the 30 cases investigated the recommended pressure level was maintained in 4 cases. The average cuff pressure was 40.9 mmHg with 10.2 cc of air and 69.0 mmHg, the largest value, was reported in one case. However, when recommended pressure level was maintained (18 mmHg), the average amount of air was reduced to 7.9 cc. CONCLUSION: The results reveal that it may not be possible to sustain the recommended pressure level by "infusing about 10 ml of air,"and that may cause complications.