Endotracheal Tube Cuff Pressures and Incidence of Postoperative Sore Throat
Endotracheal intubation is the best method of maintaining a patient’s airway in operation under general anaesthesia, an unconscious patient with cardiac arrest and who needs elective ventilation in ICU or CCU. Prior to intubation, the tube should have inflatable cuffs.This cuff stops gas leaks out of the ETT during IPPV as well as leaks of stomach contents, blood, mucus, and other foreign bodies into the lungs between the ETT and the trachea.Variable sizes starts from 2.5mm to 10.0mm. Cuffs are usually of two types; high pressure low volume and low pressure high volume. Cuff pressure should not exceed 30 cm H2O or 22mmHg to prevent ischaemic damage to the tracheal mucosa. (1) Raised cuff pressure increases the incidence of post extubation sore throat. It also depends on the duration of keeping the tubes in situ, and different inflating agents.