• Alexander Dullenkopf, Vera Bernet-Buettiker, Paolo Maino, and Markus Weiss.
• Department of Anaesthesia, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. alex.dullenkopf@kispi.unizh.ch
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2006 Jan 1;16(1):19-24.

BackgroundAcute and chronic hyperinflation of tracheal tube cuffs represents a persistent risk factor for airway damage in children when cuffed tracheal tubes are used. In order to overcome this particular risk, a cuff pressure (CP) pop-off valve has been designed to avoid CP exceeding 20 cmH(2)O.MethodsThe performance of the novel pop-off valve has been evaluated in an in vitro set-up during slow and rapid air insufflation by a syringe or a CP manometer or inadvertent compression of the cuff pilot balloon while measuring cuff and tracheal wall pressure (WP) in ID 3.0 mm cuffed tracheal tubes. Steady-state performance was evaluated during nitrous oxide exposure of tracheal tube cuffs (ID 3.0 mm).ResultsThe novel CP pop-off valve avoided cuff hyperinflation during rapid air volume changes and showed reliable performance during steady-state nitrous oxide exposure to the tube cuff.ConclusionsThese preliminary results show that the CP pop-off valve limits the effect of rapid, potentially dangerous manual cuff inflation maneuvers and reliably prevents CP exceeding the predetermined level of 20 cmH(2)O when exposed to nitrous oxide.

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