The Relationship between a Person's Height and Appropriate Endotracheal Tube Length

Abstract

The relationship between a person's height and the dimensions of that person's upper airways has been studied in adult subjects. Using this relationship, formulae have been derived which predict appropriate lengths for endotracheal tubes. The formulae are as follows:S b 'ect hei ht (cm) 1. Orotracheal tube (teeth to mid-point of trachea) = u'1

Proper insertion depth of endotracheal tubes in adults by topographic landmarks measurements

“…This observation was not confirmed by our study, where patient height did not correlate with ETT tip to carina distance. In a computed tomography study of the neck, Eagle [17] failed to find a correlation between patient height, length of trachea, and appropriate ETT length. In addition, routine airway assessment often reveals that some tall patients have short necks.…”

“…In clinical practice, many experienced users of ETTs position the ETT cuff just below the vocal cords to minimize bronchial intubation. However, individual anatomical characteristics of the airway are not considered by many other intubation techniques such as inserting the proximal end of the cuff one cm below the vocal cords [16] or calculation of intubation depth according to patient's height [17].…”

Bedside prediction of airway length by measuring upper incisor manubrio-sternal joint length

“…In 1992, Eagle[13] failed to find a foolproof relationship between height of a person and length of the trachea. However, he observed good correlation of patient's height with incisor-vocal cords length and external nare-vocal cords length.…”

“…However, height may not be an acceptable predictor of airway in all populations. [13] Chong et al .,[20] found that tracheal length in Chinese adults had only a moderate correlation ( r = 0.51) with height of the individual. They also observed that the patient with ≤167.5 cm height had higher probability for short trachea.…”

“…Height of a person[13] and different anatomical landmarks[14] have been used frequently for prediction of airway length with variable success. Angle of Louis, the forward prominence formed by the manubrio-sternal joint, is at the same horizontal plane as the tracheal carina and is an important anatomical landmark.…”