Tracheobronchial Secretion Removal

Patients undergoing intubation and mechanical ventilation require removal of secretion by means of trachoebronchial suctioning. Timing of the procedure is mainly based on clinical parameters. TBA Care® is a new commercially available device designed to generate a signal when secretions are present in the respiratory tract of intubated patients, thus indicating the need for endotracheal suctioning only when necessary and prior to clinical deterioration. In a prospective randomized trial in intubated and mechanically ventilated patients of a general ICU the researchers investigated the efficacy of TBA Care® in detecting the presence of retained secretions compared to the standard indicators.