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- Title
Tracheostomy suction: a protocol for practice.
- Authors
Ireton, Joanna
- Abstract
The risks of suction are well documented. Nurses caring for children with tracheostomies must use their clinical judgement as well as a safe suction procedure based on evidence. Preparation, correct equipment and suction pressures, a safe suction procedure and post-procedure assessment are included in a proposed protocol for a self-ventilating child with a tracheostomy. Suction pressures are recommended at the lower limits suggested by research, i.e. pressures of 80-120mmHg (10-16Kpa) for adolescents, 80-100mmHg (10-13Kpa) for children and 60-80mmHg (8-10Kpa) for neonates. Three holed catheters are advocated of a size no larger than half the internal diameter of the patient's tracheostomy. It is recommended that the suction catheter not be inserted further than the end of the tracheostomy tube. Routine instillation of saline is not recommended. A combination of education, staff involvement and mechanisms for audit, evaluation and modification of the protocol are required to support implementation of the protocol and improvements in practice.
- Subjects
TRACHEOTOMY; EVIDENCE-based medicine; CHILDREN; MEDICAL equipment; PRESSURE; RESPIRATORY diseases
- Publication
Paediatric Nursing, 2007, Vol 19, Issue 10, p14
- ISSN
0962-9513
- Publication type
Article