Arch Otolaryngol
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This study was undertaken to determine what optimal levels of suction pressure were necessary to provide good drainage volume and obliteration of any dead space and also to determine the prevalence of clotting and complications secondary to various levels of suction pressure. The patients were grouped by their degree of nutritional depletion, prior radiation exposure, the types of surgical procedures undergone, and the results of tests using four levels of suction pressure. ⋯ All wall suction pressure levels were certainly comparable with the portable unit. However, the portable unit provided continuous suction pressure when the patients were ambulatory and was not associated with any statistically significant increase in wound complications or equipment failure.
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We developed a canine animal model of subglottic stenosis following prolonged intubation with modified non-cuffed endotracheal tubes. None of the puppies intubated for seven days had an irreversible stenosing subglottic lesion, whereas all animals intubated for 14 days or more had at least a 40% to 50% reduction of the subglottic lumen secondary to maturing fibrotic stenosis. The model described is more congruent with the known and suspected pathogenesis in those infants and children who require prolonged endotracheal intubation and subsequently acquire subglottic stenosis, and can be used in evaluating the efficacy of medical therapy or surgical therapy, or both, in the prevention or management of this disease.