Tracheal tube markings

Intubation depth markings allow an improved positioning of endotracheal tubes in children

“…Unfortunately, in conventional cuffed pediatric tracheal tubes, the intubation depth mark is often misleading, if available at all. [4][5][6] Further, even with the upper border of the cuff positioned directly below the vocal cords, a small margin of safety for endobronchial intubation has been reported with cuffed pediatric tubes due to long cuffs and the presence of a Murphy eye. 28 In the MPTT the high volume -low pressure cuffs made from polyurethane have improved sealing characteristics compared to polyvinyl chloride, and allowed the design of substantially shorter cuffs with sealing cuff pressures much lower than usually required in conventional pediatric cuffed tracheal tubes.…”

“…1 However, in the past manufacturers' markings on tracheal tubes have been reported to be unreliable and to be responsible for critical airway incidents. [2][3][4][5][6] Recently, a newly designed cuffed pediatric tracheal tube [Microcuff® Pediatric Tracheal Tube (MPTT), Microcuff GmbH, Weinheim, Germany] with redefined intubation depth markings has been introduced into clinical practice (Figure 1). 7 The intubation depth markings of the MPTT are based upon tracheal dimensions published by Griscom and Pettersson,8,9 and potential mean tube tip displacement distances during head and neck manipulations calculated from data found in the literature.…”

A Comparative Study of Endotracheal Tube Positioning Methods in Children: Safety from Neck Movement

“…The results in this study showed this method to be effective for avoiding endobronchial intubation or extubation in older children without creating any difficulties in visualizing the vocal cords. However, the depth markers are not found in the same location in different brands of ETT (13,16). Therefore, the distances of the depth marker from the ETT tip should be identified before tracheal intubation.…”

It is time to establish an international manufacturing standard for paediatric tracheal tubes?

“…After arrival of a patient in the PACU, the anaesthesia provider transferred care of the patient to a PACU nurse. The handover quality was rated by a PACU nurse using the Anwari instrument [3] to assess the following variables: i) content of sign-out; ii) condition of patient on arrival; iii) professional behaviour; and iv) nurse satisfaction. We also evaluated whether the use of a modified handover score, that excluded variables assessing patient physiological condition, was associated with PACU length of stay.…”