Postoperative sore throat - importance of endotracheal tube conformity versus cuff design

Abstract

All endotracheal tube cuffs except the foam-filled cuffs sustained significant increases in cuff volume and pressure at the end of the operation, as had been previously described. The National Catheter Company standard tube with low-residual-volume, low-tracheal-contact, high-pressure cuffs was associated with the lowest incidence and least severity of post-operative sore throat. Pharyngeal molded Lindholm tubes, with the same cuff, were associated with a significantly higher incidence and greater severity of sore throat postoperatively. Both the standard and Lindholm National Catheter Company tubes with high-residual-volume, high-tracheal-contact cuffs caused markedly higher incidences and greater severities of postoperative sore throat than either the standard or the Lindholm tube with low-residual-volume, low-tracheal-contact cuffs. The Kamen-Wilkinson tubes with large foam-filled cuffs and the highest tracheal cuff contact area were associated with the highest incidence and greatest severity of postoperative sore throat.