Letters To The Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Anesthesiol. Mar 27, 2016; 5(1): 36-37
Published online Mar 27, 2016. doi: 10.5313/wja.v5.i1.36
Improvised technique for measuring tracheal tube cuff pressure
René Agustín Flores-Franco
René Agustín Flores-Franco, Intensive Critical Care Unit, Regional General Hospital of Zone 1, Mexican Institute of Social Security, Chihuahua PC 3000, México
Author contributions: Flores-Franco RA wrote this letter and created the described improvised technique.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: René Agustín Flores-Franco, MD, Intensive Critical Care Unit, Regional General Hospital of Zone 1, Mexican Institute of Social Security, Garcia Conde St and University Ave, Chihuahua PC 3000, México. rflores99@prontomail.com
Telephone: +52-614-4133238
Received: September 20, 2015
Peer-review started: September 23, 2015
First decision: October 30, 2015
Revised: November 26, 2015
Accepted: December 18, 2015
Article in press: December 21, 2015
Published online: March 27, 2016
Processing time: 187 Days and 0.4 Hours
Abstract

We agree with the editorial published by Feng et al concerning the insufficient routine monitoring of tracheal tube cuff pressure (TTCP) by anesthesiologists, and propose an improvised technique that can facilitate and promote such routine monitoring by intensive care staff who attend to patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Insufficient monitoring of tracheal cuff pressure has also been documented for intensive care unit nurses. Measurements of cuff pressure are beneficial when used in management of air leakage around an endotracheal tube, and can be easily obtained with the aid of a personalized and simple technique performed using materials that are readily available in all hospitals. Other investigators have previously demonstrated the usefulness of employing an improvised technique. We considered that possible disadvantages are similar to those encountered when using standardized equipment. With our improvised technique, we seek to promote among the nursing staff the determination of the TTCP in intubated patients to reduce the risk of related medical complications.

Keywords: Endotracheal tube; Mechanical ventilation; Cuff pressure; Improvised devices; Nursing practice

Core tip: This letter to the editor supports an opinion expressed in an article recently published in the World Journal of Anesthesiology. In that article, Feng et al mentioned that despite evidence suggesting its benefits, anesthesiologists often do not measure a patient’s endotracheal tube cuff pressure. We suggest an improvised and personalized technique that can be employed to facilitate taking such measurements on a routine basis in the setting of an intensive care unit with limited resources.