Endotracheal tube cuff pressure during aeromedical transport
<p dir="ltr">The use of helicopters and planes for transporting sick or injured patients to tertiary care centers is common practice. Aviation medicine requires a different perspective regarding patient care. One must consider the effects of higher altitudes on patients when utilizin...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Published: |
2015
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | <p dir="ltr">The use of helicopters and planes for transporting sick or injured patients to tertiary care centers is common practice. Aviation medicine requires a different perspective regarding patient care. One must consider the effects of higher altitudes on patients when utilizing aeromedical transportation. An endotracheal tube (ETT) utilizes air to inflate a balloon (“cuff”); the cuff invasively secures the ETT and the pressure must be measured and monitored. The amount of air placed in an ETT cuff to ensure a proper seal on an intubated patient varies among practitioners; without using a measuring device (manometer), ETT cuff pressures are unknown. In a critically ill patient, blood supply to the tracheal mucosa can become compromised, when ETT cuff pressures are sustained above 30 mm Hg for greater than 15-30 minutes potentially resulting in unnecessary airway trauma. Boyle-Mariotte’s Gas Law is used to measure ETT cuff pressures: Pcuff2=Pcuff1 + Patm1 – Patm2. Pcuff2 represents the final numerical value of the ETT cuff pressure.</p><h2 dir="ltr">Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Journal of Local and Global Health Science, title discontinued as of (2017)<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.11" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.5339/jlghs.2015.itma.11</a></p> |
|---|