The Effect of Monitoring Endotracheal Tube Cuff Pressure and Keeping it in a Certain Range

Overview

The main purpose of our prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study is to investigate the effect of keeping endotracheal tube cuff pressures within a certain range on the incidence of postoperative sore throat, hoarseness and cough.The secondary aims of our study are to evaluate the effect of intubation duration, smoking, presence of chest disease, presence of blood on the intubation tube after extubation, presence of NG\\OG, and type of surgery on the incidence of sore throat, hoarseness, and cough.The patients were randomly divided into two: a study group with continuous cuff pressure monitoring and a control group without continuous cuff pressure monitoring.The endotracheal cuff pressure of the patients in both groups was measured by a blinded researcher using a cuff manometer after intubation, before extubation, and in long cases, at the 3rd hour after intubation.Patients were evaluated for sore throat, cough, and hoarseness at the 2nd and 24th hours by another researcher blinded to the study groups.

Although the safe cuff pressure range for high volume-low pressure tubes used today is defined as 20-30 cmH2O, routine cuff pressure monitoring is not performed in operating rooms. The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a significant pressure difference between blindly inflated cuffs and the cuffs inflated by controlling the cuff pressure aided by monitorization, and the effects of any detected pressure difference on the trachea using the clinically detectable parameters of sore throat, hoarseness and cough. The patients included in this prospective, controlled, randomized, double-blind study were divided into two groups: the study group whose cuff pressures were monitored continously (n = 163) and the control group (n = 100). The study group was constantly monitored with an invasive pressure monitoring system. In addition, a researcher who was blind to the groups measured the endotracheal tube cuff pressure with the help of a manometer after intubation in both groups, before extubation, and in long-term cases, at the 3rd hour after intubation. Postoperatively, patients were evaluated for sore throat, cough, and hoarseness using VAS scoring at the 2nd and 24th hour by another researcher blinded to the study groups. Statistical evaluation was made using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows 20 (SPSS-IBM SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) program. Complaint of sore throat was observed significantly less at 2nd and 24th hours in the group with cuff pressure monitoring (p=0.00 for 2nd hour sore throat, p=0.02 for 24th hour sore throat). No difference was detected between the groups in terms of hoarseness and cough. It has been observed that manometer measurements also reduce the pressure due to the use of air in the same closed system. The quantity of this reduction, which some researchers have previously stated, needs to be studied in more detail. In conclusion, intraoperative ETT cuff pressure monitoring may be effective in preventing sore throat and the mucosal ischemia that causes this pain.