Articles: intubation.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 1979
Increases in cuff volume and pressure in red rubber endotracheal tubes during anaesthesia.
Increases in endotracheal tube cell volume and pressure during anaesthesia have been reported to be due to the diffusion of nitrous oxide into the cuff. This study compared cuff volume and pressure changes in anaesthetized intubated patients who were ventilated with those allowed to breath spontaneously. ⋯ The increase in cuff pressure was however, greater during intermittent positive pressure ventilation than for spontaneous respiration. There were no significant changes when the cuff was inflated with the nitrous oxide-oxygen mixture.
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Critical care medicine · May 1979
Partial obstruction of endotracheal tubes in children: incidence, etiology, significance.
We examined 99 endotracheal tubes removed from 81 pediatric patients to determine the incidence of partial endotracheal tube obstruction and predisposing factors. The overall incidence of obstruction was 20.2% (20/99); 14 of the 20 obstructed tubes were occluded less than 50%. General anesthesia during the period of intubation was the only factor significantly associated with an increased incidence of obstruction (p less than 0.05). ⋯ Among the 71 tubes from patients who received general anesthesia, a tube size of 4 mm or less was associated with an increased incidence of obstruction (p less than 0.05). Pressure-flow curves for three different sizes of endotracheal tubes were constructed to determine the increase in resistance produced by different degrees of obstruction. At flow rates that approximated those found in children during quiet breathing, the resistance of tubes that were 50% obstructed was 4 times greater than that found in unobstructed tubes.
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Forty-three consecutive patients requiring endotracheal intubation in an emergency room were studied prospectively to define the complications associated with intubation and the survival of these patients, and to evaluate emergency room policies. The indications for intubation were acute respiratory failure (ARF) in 22 patients and cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) in 21 patients. Thirty-eight complications occurred in 24 of the 43 patients. ⋯ Age less than 40 years and admission PaO2 greater than 40 mm Hg also were associated with increased survival. We conclude that the complication rate of emergency room intubations is high and would not appear to be lowered by limiting intubations to physicians from specific departments or with certain levels of training. The underlying diagnosis and condition on admission to the emergency room appear to be more important factors relating to survival than complications during intubation.
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The use of small endotracheal tubes reduces the trauma of intubation. Ventilator and tracheal pressures were measured during controlled ventilation with various tube dimensions and ventilation volumes. Ventilation with large volumes using small tracheal tubes results in high ventilator pressures. ⋯ Small endotracheal tubes and high ventilation volumes result in a positive tracheal pressure at the end of expiration. The measured end-expiratory pressures are within the limits which might be used therapeutically (in PEEP). The force required to reshape endotracheal tubes of varvious dimensions to an "anatomical" shape was related to the tube dimensions; the beneficial effects of performed, "anatomically shaped" endotracheal tubes can be achieved by using small tubes of standard design.