Problem Statement- Anesthesia providers routinely place endotracheal tubes in patients having
surgery. Previous studies show that using an ETT cuff manometer to verify cuff pressures are
between 20-30 cm H2O improves patient safety from multiple risks associated with under- or
over-inflation. Anesthesia providers at Parkview Whitley Hospital (PWH) used subjective
estimation techniques and did not use ETT cuff manometers to verify surgical patients ETT cuff
pressures.
Purpose- The project attempted to reduce anesthesia providers perceived barriers to manometer
use and increase the frequency of manometer use with operating room intubations at PWH.
Methods- This was a quality improvement project with a one-group pre/post intervention survey
that also tracked post-intervention manometer use for a four-week period. The interventions
attempted to reduce anesthesia providers perceived barriers related to knowledge, skills, and
access to ETT cuff manometers. Interventions included a slideshow presentation, hands-on skills
practice, and adding manometers to operating room anesthesia carts.
Inclusion Criteria- The project participants were required to be full-time anesthesia providers at
PWH.
Results- Pre- to post-intervention surveys showed improvements in providers’ scores related to
knowledge, skills, and access to ETT cuff manometers. Anesthesia Providers at PWH used
manometers with 91.3% of operating room intubation during the four-week post-intervention
period.
Implications- Reducing anesthesia providers’ perceived barriers related to knowledge, skills,
and access to ETT cuff manometers translated to a high manometer use rate with operating room intubations. The use of manometers allows providers to verify ETT cuff pressures are kept
between 20-30 cm H2O to maximize patient safety.

Creator

• Curt E. Laukhuf, SRNA

Keyword

• ETT Cuff Manometers

• anesthesia providers

• anesthesia

• manometers

• ETT cuff pressures

Date created

• June 18, 2021

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/