ABSTRACT
Anesthetized, intubated kittens were subjected to one of two procedures: (1) insertion of a suction catheter to a predetermined distance and withdrawal with or without the application of suction or (2) insertion of the catheter until resistance was met and withdrawal with or without the application of suction. There were 5 animals in each group. All 10 of the animals in the "predetermined distance" groups had normal tissues. Of the 10 animals in the "resistance" groups, nine displayed multifocal areas of denuded epithelium and varying degrees of inflammation. One subject from the "resistance/suction" group had normal tissues. One from the "resistance/no suction" group displayed a small hemorrhage into the soft tissue. The Kruskal-Wallis rank test revealed a significant difference (p less than 0.05) between the "predetermined" and the "resistance" groups. The application of suction had no effect on the amount of damage evident.
