• Sayuri Matsunami, Nobuyasu Komasawa, Shunsuke Fujiwara, Kenta Nakao, Shinichi Tatsumi, and Toshiaki Minami.
• Masui. 2014 May 1; 63 (5): 586-9.

BackgroundMicroaspiration of vomitus can cause a serious condition known as Mendelson's syndrome. The present study used simulated stomach contents and an airway model to compare a tracheal tube with a tapered cuff (Taper) to the conventional high volume low pressure cuff (HVLP) in their abilities to prevent microaspiration.MethodsThe automated cuff pressure was adjusted to 10, 20, and 30 cmH2O. We poured 5 ml of simulated stomach contents above the cuff in the vertically situated airway model and measured the leakage volume after 5 minutes as well as 4 hours.ResultsAfter 5 minutes, leakage volume was significantly lower for the Taper than for the HVLP at 10 cmH2O, but not for 20 and 30 cmH2O. After 4 hours, stomach content leakage was significantly less with the Taper than with the HVLP, regardless of cuff pressure (P < 0.05).ConclusionsWe conclude that the Taper may be more effective than the conventional HVLP in preventing vomitus microaspiration in an airway model simulation.

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