ICU Management & Practice, ICU Volume 10 - Issue 1 - Spring 2010
Boulder, CO —February, 2010 – Covidien announced results from a recent study1 suggesting that its Mallinckrodt™ TaperGuard™ line of endotracheal tubes reduces microaspiration by providing a more effective tracheal seal compared to other conventional endotracheal tubes. Microaspiration refers to aspiration of fluid, secretions and other materials that have leaked past the endotracheal tube cuff and into the lungs that may lead to pulmonary complications.
The study by Jan-Paul Mulier, M.D., Ph.D investigated the outcomes of patients intubated with either a TaperGuard tube or conventional high-volume, low-pressure cuff during laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. In the study, not one patient intubated with a TaperGuard tube (n = 11) had microaspiration secondary to leakage of fluid past the inflated cuff. In contrast, more than 40 percent of patients intubated with a conventional high-volume, lowpressure cuff (n = 9) exhibited clear evidence of microaspiration.
"The difference in leakage prevention rates is likely a result of the innovative shape of TaperGuard product's cuff," Dr. Mulier said. "The newly designed tapered cuff may improve the sealing rate over conventional barrel-shaped cuffs found on the most widely used endotracheal tubes, the Mallinckrodt™ Hi-Lo endotracheal tubes."
Tracheal Cuff Leak in Morbid Obese Patients Intubated with a TaperGuard, a Hi‐Lo Cuffed or a Hi‐Lo Cuffed and Lubricated Tracheal Tube, www.nyssapga. org.
Covidien provided certain supplies and loaned equipment for use in the above study.
