[An experimental and clinical study of a new intubation tube with a foam-filled cuff]

An experimental and clinical study of an endotracheal tube with a foam-filled cuff has been carried out. The experimental study showed that, during inspiration, the cuff was insufflated through the "T piece" connecting the cuff in the inspiratory limb of the ventilator circuit, preventing inspiratory leak. The intracuff pressure was equal to airway pressure. During expiration the gas insufflated into cuff leaked out through the "T piece" and intracuff pressure rapidly returned to zero. When N2O in 50% O2 was used for one hour, intracuff pressure did not increase. Twenty patients intubated with a foam-filled cuff tube, for ENT surgery, have been studied. The mean intubating time was 151 min +/- 36 and two patients were intubed, respectively, 26 hours and 28 hours. No complications were noted, 24 hours after extubation, during laryngeal fibroscopic control. Only two patients had light edema of the vocal cords and three of them had a light inflammation of the subglottic mucosa, without sore throat. No tracheal ischaemic damage nor tracheal mucosal inflammation were observed.