Alberto Zanella, Vittorio Scaravilli, Stefano Isgrò, Manuela Milan, Massimo Cressoni, Nicolò Patroniti, Roberto Fumagalli, Antonio Pesenti
PURPOSE: Standard polyvinylchloride (PVC) endotracheal tube (ETT) cuffs do not protect from aspiration across the cuff, a leading cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). In a long-lasting in vitro study we compared the effect of different cuff materials (PVC, polyurethane, and guayule latex), shapes (cylindrical, conical), and positive end expiratory pressures (PEEP) in reducing fluid leakage across the cuff. METHODS: We compared fluid leakage across a cylindrical double-layer guayule latex prototype cuff, three cylindrical PVC cuffs (Mallinckrodt Hi-Lo, Mallinckrodt HighContour, Portex Ivory), one conical PVC cuff (Mallinckrodt TaperGuard), and two polyurethane cuffs (Mallinckrodt SealGuard, conical; Microcuff, cylindrical)...
February 2011: Intensive Care Medicine