comparison of three endotracheal tube cuff inflation techniques to obtain recommended endotracheal tube cuff pressure in adult patients undergoing general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation

endotracheal intubation is routinely performed for patients undergoing general anaesthesia.it is crucial to maintain appropriate cuff pressure to avoid cuff related serious adverse events. under inflation may lead to gastric distension, aspiration of oropharyngeal secretions, leakage of anaesthetic gases and thereby environmental pollution. overinflation may lead to compromised local tissue blood flow, necrosis and damage to surrounding anatomical structures. recommended range for cuff pressure is 20-25cm of water. we will be using three different methods of endotracheal tube cuff inflation in adult patients undergoing general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation and check to see which is the best in achieving the cuff pressures in the recommended range. after a written and informed consent the methods used are pilot balloon palpation following cuff inflation by a regular 10ml syringe, use of loss of resistance syringe used in epidural sets and a syringe device with pressure sensor. we hypothesise that most appropriate cuff pressures are achieved by syringe device with pressure sensor. study design is a prospective interventional randomised controlled study with a sample size of 150 comprising 50 patients per group.