Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Sep 2002
The cuff leak test to predict failure of tracheal extubation for laryngeal edema.
Laryngeal edema secondary to endotracheal intubation may require early re-intubation. Prior to extubation the absence of leak around an endotracheal tube may predict laryngeal edema after extubation. We evaluated the usefulness of a quantitative assessment of such a leak to identify the patients who will require early re-intubation for laryngeal edema. ⋯ A gas leak around the endotracheal tube greater than 15.5% can be used as a screening test to limit the risk of re-intubation for laryngeal edema.
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Intensive care medicine · Sep 2002
Editorial CommentExcellence in end-of-life care: a goal for intensivists.