Aspiration is a serious morbidity that leads to an increase in both patient mortality and duration of hospital stays. Many practices exist within the hospital setting whose goal is to help prevent clinically significant aspiration including preoperative starvation, pharmaceutically reducing gastric acidity, facilitating gastric drainage, postural changes, cricoid pressure, endotracheal cuff pressure modification, and maintenance of a competent lower esophageal sphincter. However, to date, no monitoring system exists to help a clinician identify active aspiration. At present, video fluoroscopy, is the gold standard for detecting aspiration. This pilot prospective cohort study will examine the incidence of supraglottic pH readings.
A continuous pH/impedence sensor will be placed immediately above the glottic opening in four high risk populations: burn patients who are intubated, intubated post-stroke patients, patients undergoing robotic prostectomy, and in patients undergoing peritoneal tumor debulking and chemotherapy. The presence of acidic fluid above the glottic opening will be measured using a supraglottic impendence/pH probe attached to an endotracheal tube.
