The Professional Experience of Anaesthesiologists in Proper Inflation of Laryngeal Mask and Endotracheal Tube Cuff

Cuffs inflated to inappropriately high pressures cause ischemia, reducing tracheal mucosal blood flow, while cuffs inflated at lower pressure than necessary give rise to inadequate ventilation, aspiration of gastric contents, or extubation due to air leakage. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of the experience of anaesthesia staff on endotracheal tube and laryngeal mask airway cuff inflation.

The study included 348 elective patients scheduled to undergo surgery under general anaesthesia, with 34 anaesthesia technicians, 16 anaesthesia residents, and 12 anaesthesiologists with different years of professional experience. The participants were told to inflate the cuff balloon with air to the level of the pressure that was appropriate for them. No information was provided to the participants about the values of the cuff pressure pending the completion of all measurements. After placement of the laryngeal mask airway and endotracheal tube, the success of the procedure was checked by monitoring square-wave capnograph tracing and thoracoabdominal motion. Each participant performed the procedures on three patients, and the mean cuff pressures were measured.

There was no significant correlation between duration of experience of technicians, residents, and experts in using laryngeal mask airway pressure (r=-0.192/p=0.278, r=0.225/p=0.402, r=-0.476/p=0.118, respectively) and endotracheal tube (r=-0.306/p=0.079, r=-0.060/p=0.826, r=-0.478/0.116, respectively).

It has been concluded that professional experience does not contribute to achieving normal cuff pressure without monitoring. Introduction of the cuff manometer into routine anaesthesia practice will be useful, irrespective of anaesthesiologists' experience.