Pain assessment poses a great challenge for clinicians in intensive care units. This descriptive study aimed to find the most reliable, sensitive, and valid tool for assessing pain. The researcher and a nurse simultaneously assessed 47 nonverbal patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit by using 3 tools: the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS), the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT), and the adult Nonverbal Pain Scale (NVPS) before, during, and after turning and suctioning. All tools were found to be reliable and valid (Cronbach α = 0.95 for both the BPS and the CPOT, α = 0.86 for the NVPS), and all subscales of both the BPS and CPOT were highly sensitive for assessing pain (P < .001). The NVPS physiology (P = .21) and respiratory (P = .16) subscales were not sensitive for assessing pain. The BPS was the most reliable, valid, and sensitive tool, with the CPOT considered an appropriate alternative tool for assessing pain. The NVPS is not recommended because of its inconsistent psychometric properties.

Background:Postoperative pain after breast cancer surgery is not uncommon. Narcotic based analgesia is commonly used for postoperative pain management. However, the side-effects and complications of systemic narcotics is a significant disadvantage. Different locoregional anesthetic techniques have been tried including, single and multiple levels paravertebral block (PVB), which seems to have a significant reduction in immediate postoperative pain with fewer side-effects. The aim of this study was to compare unilateral multiple level PVB versus morphine patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) for pain relief after breast cancer surgery with unilateral lumpectomy and axillary lymph nodes dissection.Materials and Methods:Forty patients scheduled for breast cancer surgery were randomized to receive either preoperative unilateral multiple injections PVB at five thoracic dermatomes (group P, 20 patients) or postoperative intravenous PCA with morphine (group M, 20 patients) for postoperative pain control. Numerical pain scale, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, Time to first analgesic demand, 24-h morphine consumption side-effects and length of hospital stay were recorded.Results:PVB resulted in a significantly more postoperative analgesia, maintained hemodynamic, more significant reduction in nausea and vomiting, and shorter hospital stay compared with PCA patients.Conclusion:Multiple levels PVB is an effective regional anesthetic technique for postoperative pain management, it provides superior analgesia with less narcotics consumption, and fewer side-effects compared with PCA morphine for patients with breast cancer who undergo unilateral lumpectomy, with axillary lymph nodes dissection.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type 1 of the upper limb is a painful and debilitating condition. Interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB) in conjugation with other modalities was shown to be a feasible therapy with variable success. We reported a case of CRPS type 1 as diagnosed by International Association for the Study of Pain criteria in which pharmacological approaches failed to achieve adequate pain relief and even were associated with progressive dysfunction of the upper extremity. Single injection ISB, in combination with physical therapy and botulinum toxin injection, was successful to alleviate pain with functional restoration.

The endotracheal tube (ETT) cuff's principal function is to implement proper tracheal sealing at a pressure high enough to prevent both gas leak and fluid aspiration, and low enough to maintain tracheal perfusion. Clinicians are often concerned primarily with the volume of air required to inflate an ETT cuff. However, the most important factor is how much pressure will be exerted on the tracheal mucosa when the cuff is properly distended. Cuff over-inflation complications range from sore throat to tracheal ischemia with tracheal rupture and fistula formation. The ideal ETT cuff pressure has not been defined with a high degree of certainty however most anesthesiologists generally recommend a target pressure of 20 to 30 cmH2O. Although trachea-gas sealing can be achieved at ETT cuff pressure of 20 cmH2O, microaspiration can occur at a cuff pressure of 60 cmH2O. Since the introduction of cuffed ETT in the mid- 20th century, several modifications in the cuff's shape and material have been done to address these challenges. It has been proven that the pressure within the inflated cuff is a dynamic process. As such, various clinical factors will significantly impact the pressure reading. Thus, continuous regulation of ETT cuff pressure should be routine practice. Our review included 158 articles that addressed the background into the development of cuffed ETT, function and anatomy of the ETT cuff system, cuff pressure and sealing characteristics, ETT cuff pressure regulation, microaspiration, and factors affecting ETT cuff pressure. Key words: Endotracheal Tube; Cuff pressure; Microaspiration Citation: Al-metwalli RR, Fallatah SM, Alghamdi TM. Endotracheal tube cuff pressure: An overlooked risk. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2021;25(1):86–95; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v25i1.1445 Received: 2 November 2020, Reviewed: 24 December 2020, Accepted: 1 January 2021