Cuff failure in polyvinyl chloride tracheal tubes sprayed with lignocaine

The incidence of tracheal tube cuff rupture was noted in 30 polyvinyl chloride tracheal tubes lubricated with three different solutions. All cuffs moistened with water were intact after 2 hours of cuff inflation whereas two of 10 lubricated with 4% lignocaine solution had burst. Both of these had leaked at the site of cuff attachment to the tube. Fifty percent of tubes lubricated with Astra lignocaine spray burst during the study. Four of the five had developed pinholes in the cuffs themselves. The remaining 50% of this group showed marked distortion and thinning of their intact cuff walls. The implications of these findings are discussed in view of the widespread use of PVC tracheal tubes.