Cuff leak volume as a clinical predictor for identifying post-extubation stridor.

BACKGROUND Post-extubation stridor occurs after translaryngeal intubation results to re-intubation in a number of patients. OBJECTIVE To determine the cut-off value of the cuff leak volume test among Thai patients as a predictor for post-extubation stridor MATERIAL AND METHOD Demographic data and cuff leak volume were collected from patients who had been intubated with planned extubation. Clinical stridor was observed and identified after extubation. RESULTS Among 115 patients, the cuff leak volume of less than 114 ml was used to predict post-extubation stridor with the sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 90%, positive predictive value of 65%, and negative predictive value of 98%, respectively. Among the stridor group, 12 of 19 cases (63.2%) needed re-intubation. CONCLUSION The cuff leak volume of less than 114 ml can be used as a clinical predictor for identifying post-extubation stridor