Effect of Tracheostomy Tubes on the Resistance to Breathing and Pulmonary Resistance in Patients with Poliomyelitis

Abstract

WHEN patients have severe airway obstruction or swallowing difficulties, as may occur with bulbar poliomyelitis, the insertion of a tracheostomy tube may be required to ensure a clear airway, to reduce respiratory resistance and to minimize aspiration. It has been recommended that as large a tube as possible be inserted,¹ to maintain the internal diameter close to that of the trachea and not to increase the resistance to breathing unduly as the patient breathes through the tracheostomy tube.When patients are weaned from tracheostomy tubes, progressively smaller tubes are inserted over a period of days or weeks. To help the . . .