SORE THROAT AFTER OPERATION: INFLUENCE OF TRACHEAL INTUBATION, INTRACUFF PRESSURE AND TYPE OF CUFF

One hundred and eighty-four patients were studied to elucidate the contribution of intracuff pressure and cuff type to the occurrence of sore throat and hoarseness after operation The patients were allocated to one of the following groups A = mask only; B = reusable Rusch tube with intermittent cuff volume adjustment, C = reusable Rusch tube without cuff volume ad)ustment; D = disposable Portex Blue Line tube with intermittent cuff volume adiustment; E = disposable Shiley Low Pressure tube with intermittent cuff volume adjustment. Nitrous oxide was a component of anaesthesia in all patients. Moderate or severe symptoms were recorded in 30-33 % of the patients in groups C, D and E, contrasting with group B, in which these sequelae were seen in only 10 % of patients ( P < 0.025). All sequelae occurred less frequently in group A than in any of the other groups (/*< 0 025) Women were more likely to develop sore throat after intubation than were men ( P < 0.01). A possible relationship between differences m cuff-trachea contact area is postulated Complications of long-term tracheal intubation are well known and are often related to reductions in blood-flow in the tracheal mucosa induced by cuff to tracheal wall pressures exceeding 30 mm Hg (Nor-din, Lindholm and Wolgast, 1977; Bergstrom