I used to have trouble w/ trach changes because of the cuff. The ENT would
about have to stand on my chest to get it out. Somehow I ended up with a
cuffless trach in my supplies and without knowing it grabbed it to take with
me for the change. When I came to (he always gave me versed to change them
because it was so difficult), he told me the trach was cuffless. Well it
changed my life for the better because now I talk a lot more, talk much
clearer and louder, don't have hardly any secretions so I go for days without
suctioning. Since I never put air in the cuff, my RT told me there was no
need to worry. I will never go back to a cuffed trach again.
I use a Portex size 8 non cuffed and non fenestrated. They seem to be better
than Shiley for me and those two are the only ones I've tried so far.
Karen