Investigation of the effect of a disposal endotracheal catheter and metal catheter combination application in inhalation injury patients.

Objective. The aim of this paper was to make an objective evaluation of the scientific nature and effectiveness of a combination application of two catheters by investigating and comparing the effects and the occurrence of complications using a single metal catheter application, a single disposal endotracheal catheter application, and a combination application of these two catheters separately in tracheotomy patients. Method. A study was carried out on 85 patients with a metal catheter from 1990 to 1997, 62 patients with a disposal endotracheal catheter from 1998 to 2002, and 56 patients with an on-vent disposal endotracheal catheter and an off-vent metal catheter from 2003 to November 2008, defined respectively as groups A, B, and C, in order to observe catheter balloon rupture and catheter olisthe during intubation, as also sputum adhesion to the endotracheal catheter wall after application, and to assess the number of cases of patients with airway bleeding, the number of patients with endotracheal catheter blockage, and the time lapse between ventilator withdrawal and extubation. Results. Patients in groups B and C were observed to have balloon rupture; the number of patients with catheter olisthe and airway bleeding was in both cases less than in group A (p < 0.05); and in groups A and C the number of patients with catheter blockage was in both cases less than in group B (p < 0.05) - extubation time was also shorter than in group B, but without statistical significance (p > 0.05). Macroscopic observation found that there was a large amount of sputum adhering to the lumen of the open disposal endotracheal catheter and that the lumen became significantly narrow, while the metal catheter became non-significantly narrow. Conclusion. In inhalation injury patients we found that the effect of the combination application of the disposal endotracheal catheter and the metal catheter was better than that of the single application.