Chest
Volume 77, Issue 2, February 1980, Pages 202-207
Journal home page for Chest

Experimental Approaches
Effects of Suctioning on Mucociliary Transport

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.77.2.202Get rights and content

We previously have shown that the mucosa of the airways is injured after suctioning, but the effect of this damage on mucus transport has not been systematically investigated. We measured bronchial mucus velocity of conscious sheep after tracheostomy and bronchial mucus velocity after suctioning the bronchi with three different catheters (Bard side end-hole, Aero-Flo, and Tri-Fio catheters). Tracheostomy in sheep produced a significant depression of right and left bronchial mucus velocity three hours after surgery, but at 24 hours, this measurement returned to baseline and remained at this value seven to ten days later. Interrupted suction in a preselected bronchus every ten minutes for three hours in eight sheep caused significant decreases in bronchial mucus velocity at 3, 6, and 24 hours when the Bard catheter was employed but much less of a fall with the Aero-Flo catheter. Interrupted suction for six hours in five sheep produced less of a decrease in bronchial mucus velocity at six hours for the Aero-Flo catheter than for the Tri-Flo catheter. We conclude that suctioning catheters with tips designed to minimize mucosal contact are less injurious to mucus transport than conventional side end-hole suctioning catheters and that the Aero-Flo tip is superior in design to the Tri-Flo tip, which also incorporates features to minimize damage to the mucosa of the airways.

Section snippets

Material and Preparation

Thirteen female sheep, weighing from 24 to 45 kg, were selected. A tracheostomy was used to gain access into the tracheobronchial tree. The animals were placed into a modified metal shopping cart, and a metal sling was used to restrain the head. The eyes were occluded by a blinder to minimize apprehension. The shopping cart was tilted to permit exposure of the neck. The skin was shaved and scrubbed with a povidone-iodine solution (Betadine). Local anesthesia was achieved with a 1 percent

Right vs Left Main Bronchi

All baseline observations of bronchial mucus velocity (prior to tracheostomy) for the 13 sheep studied are shown in Figure 2. All but one of these values fell within 25 percent of the line of identity.

References (18)

  • SacknerMA et al.

    Pathogenesis and prevention of tracheobronchial damage with suction procedures

    Chest

    (1973)
  • SacknerMA et al.

    Effect of cuffed endotracheal tubes on tracheal mucus velocity

    Chest

    (1975)
  • KirimliB et al.

    Evaluation of tracheobronchial suctioning techniques

    J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg

    (1970)
  • LindholmCE

    Prolonged endotracheal intubation

    Acta Anaesthesiol Scand (Suppl)

    (1969)
  • HildingAC et al.

    Tolerance of the respiratory mucus membrane to trauma: Surgical swabs and intratracheal tubes

    Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol

    (1962)
  • HildingAC

    Experimental bronchoscopy in calves: Injury and repair of tracheobronchial epithelium after passage of bronchoscope

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1968)
  • HildingAC

    Experimental bronchoscopy: Resultant trauma to tracheobronchial epithelium in calves from routine inspection

    Trans Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol

    (1968)
  • AmikamB et al.

    Bronchofiberscopic observations of the tracheobronchial tree during intubation

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1972)
  • FriedmanM et al.

    A new roentgenographic method for estimating mucus velocity in airways

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1977)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

Supported in part by grant HL-17816 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and by Sherwood Medical Corp.

View full text