Vital Signs
Maggiore and colleagues found that ET suctioning can cause decrease in SPO2 by 5%, trauma or bleeding with blood visible in suctioning secretions, increased blood pressure to 200 mm Hg or decreased blood pressure to 80 mm Hg, increased heart rate (HR) to 150 beats/min or decreased HR to 50 beats/min, and arrhythmias such as supraventicular or ventricular tachycardias.21
Iranmanesh and Rafiei 29 studied the effect of NSI on the SPO2, HR, and cardiac rhythm of multiple trauma patients. A crossover design was conducted with 50 multiple trauma patients who were admitted to ICU and were mechanically ventilated for more than 24 hours. Subjects were selected randomly to suctioning with or without the use of NSI. Results indicated that NSI when suctioning can cause potential adverse effects on SPO2, but results in no effect on the HR or cardiac rhythm. Educational programs should be provided to the nurses and RTs to help improve their knowledge on the disadvantages of using NSI when suctioning an artificial airway.29