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Published in: Critical Care 1/2005

01-02-2004 | Commentary

The cuff-leak test: what are we measuring?

Author: Daniel De Backer

Published in: Critical Care | Issue 1/2005

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Abstract

Stridor is one of the most frequent causes of early extubation failure. The cuff-leak test may help to identify patients at risk to develop post-extubation laryngeal edema. However the discrimination power of the cuff-leak test is highly variable and can be use, at best, to detect patients at risk to develop edema but should not be used to postpone extubation as tracheal extubation can still be successful in many patients with a positive test. In this editorial, the author discuss the factors influencing the leak and hence its predictive value.
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Metadata
Title
The cuff-leak test: what are we measuring?
Author
Daniel De Backer
Publication date
01-02-2004
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Critical Care / Issue 1/2005
Electronic ISSN: 1364-8535
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/cc3031

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