Setting safe and effective suction pressure: the effect of using a manometer in the suction circuit

To establish the levels of pressure used to perform tracheal suction (TS) and if they are affected by having a manometer visible in the suction circuit. A bench test evaluation of simulated tracheal suction. Physiotherapy department of a major teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Sixty-four nurses and physiotherapists who regularly apply TS to patients in the intensive care units of this hospital. All subjects used both circuit A (without a visible manometer) and B (with a visible manometer) in a predetermined random order. For both, subjects adjusted the suction control tap to where they said a safe and effective pressure (set pressure) was delivered and then occluded the suction catheter as though suctioning (applied pressure). Subjects then completed a questionnaire on their current TS practise. All set pressures (mean = 228.57 mmHg) and all applied pressures (mean = 359. 52 mmHg) were significantly higher (P