Minimal occlusive volume is a safe and effective method for adjusting cuff pressure in mechanically ventilated patients

Abstract

The ideal cuff pressure (Pcuff) must prevent microaspiration of oropharyngeal secretions due to air leakage and avoid injury to the tracheal mucosa. Usually, monitoring consists of a manometer to keep the Pcuff between 20 and 30cmH2O. The minimal occlusive volume (MOV) method minimally inflates the cuff using a syringe so that no leakage occurs. This study aims to evaluate the ability of the minimal occlusive method to individualize the Pcuff adjustment in mechanically ventilated patients. Cross-sectional prospective study with 25 adult patients with more than 48 hours of mechanical ventilation. Cuff pressure was measured at two moments: initial and by MOV. The prevalence of Pcuff outside the normal range was 76%. Leakage in the initial measurement occurred in 9 patients, 4 of whom were within the reference values. The other 5 patients presented Pcuff<20cmH2O. In the adjustment by the MOV method, all patients presented Pcuff at the limit of normality. Patients without leakage with Pcuff>30cmH2O had a reduction when adjusted for MOV (45.4±9.6 against 28.5±1.6cmH2O; p<0.001). We can conclude that the minimal occlusive volume method was able to individualize the Pcuff within the reference values in all patients.