Extent and incidence of endotracheal tube leakage in ventilated neonates

Monitoring of tidal volume (VT) is important for implementation of lung-protective ventilation strategies and to reduce ventilator induced lung injury but becomes meaningless in the presence of large endotracheal tube (ET) leakages. Using Babylog 8000 ventilator, we have recently shown that (Mahmoud et al. Acta Paediatr. 2009) ET leakage >40% cause clinically relevant errors in the displayed VT. Objective: The aim of this retrospective clinical study was to determine the extent, incidence and factors affecting ET leakage in ventilated neonates using uncuffed ETs. Methods: Patient records of 163 neonates ventilat…