Heart & lung : the journal of critical care
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A three-part study identified factors essential to accurate determination of pressure exerted against the lateral wall of the trachea by three types of endotracheal tube cuffs. Part I compared 31 mercury sphygmomanometer measurements of tracheal cuff pressures to those of pressure-sensitive aneroid Portex manometer during simulated intubation and found 99.28% of mercury manometer readings accurate to within 2 mm Hg of Portex readings. ⋯ Part III compared two methods of obtaining tracheal cuff pressure readings with the mercury sphygmomanometer during simulated intubation. Accurate measurement was made only with a stopcock system that simultaneously opened to the cuff, the manometer, and the inflator syringe and when a separate cuff distensibility factor was used in the computation.