| Evaluation of Endotracheal Tube Positioning using a Lightwand : The Length of Endotracheal Tube from Upper Incisor to Suprasternal Notch in Adults. |
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Guie Yong Lee, Rack Kyung Chung, Kyung Ah Yang, Choon Hi Lee |
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Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 158-056, Korea. |
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| Abstract |
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It is well known that suprasternal notch is at the midpoint between the carina and vocal cords. We evaluated the distance from the endotracheal tube tip on the suprasternal notch to upper incisor using flexible lightwand. 97 male(height 155~187 cm) and 100 female(height 144~167 cm) patients of undergoing elective surgery were included in the study. After adjust the lamp of the tracheal lightwand at the tube tip, endotracheal tube was placed under anesthesia at the suprasternal notch using the light glow. The distance between upper incisor to suprasternal notch was recorded.
The average distance from upper incisor to suprasternal notch was 20.0(+/-1.0)cm in males, 17.9(+/-0.7)cm in females. We demonstrated that the placing the tracheal tube at the suprasternal notch using lightwand was rapid and reliable method for identification of proper tube positioning. We have shown that securing endotracheal tube at upper incisor 23 cm in males and 21 cm in females are positioned distally. |
| Key Words:
Airway; Distance; Anatomy; Trachea; Measurement technique; Lightwand |
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