Compliance characteristics of the Portex Soft Seal Cuff improves seal against leakage of fluid in a pig trachea model

BACKGROUND: The Portex Soft Seal high-volume, low-pressure cuffed tracheal tube was compared with the Mallinckrodt HiLo, Sheridan Preformed and Portex Profile tracheal tubes for leakage of dye placed in the subglottic space of a pig's trachea which was used in a benchtop mechanical ventilation model and in six isolated pig tracheas. RESULTS: There was no leakage, either in the ventilation model or in the isolated tracheas in the Portex Soft Seal group. There was rapid leakage in the ventilation model and in all the isolated tracheas for the Mallinckrodt HiLo, and five out of six isolated tracheas for the Sheridan Preformed and the Portex Profile group. CONCLUSIONS: This benchtop study suggests that the improved compliance characteristics of the Portex Soft Seal cuff are beneficial in preventing leakage of fluid in these models.