MONDAY, July 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Provider education on use of endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff overinflation can reduce overinflation and related complications, according to a study presented at the annual American Society of Anesthesiologists Anesthesia Quality and Patient Safety Meeting, held virtually from July 14 to 15.

Mark Zimmer, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues examined quality efforts aimed at modifying factors affecting ETT cuff overinflation. The baseline rate of ETT cuff overinflation was examined using cuff pressure measurements from 75 patients undergoing noncardiac procedures under general anesthesia. For the intervention, providers were given two presentations relating to avoiding overinflation and were trained in manometer use.

The researchers found that 59 percent of the 75 patients had cuff overinflation prior to the intervention. The baseline incidence of postoperative sore throat was about 60 percent and was more frequent when the cuff was overinflated (73 versus 26 percent). ETT cuff pressures and postoperative sore throat were then evaluated in 200 patients 10 weeks after the intervention. Postintervention, the incidence of cuff overinflation was 27 percent (54 percent decrease) and incidence of postoperative sore throat was 32 percent (47 percent decrease). At 16 weeks after the intervention, the rate of cuff overinflation was 36 percent.

“Educating anesthesiologists on how to use the manometer will help to improve technique and the practice of breathing tube placement and tracheal cuff inflation, which has the potential to positively impact outcomes and reduce complications for patients,” Zimmer said in a statement.

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