Tuffier`s Line in Koreans

Oh, Young Jun; Lee, Hong Sik; Park, Dong Ho

Abstract

The Tuffier's line, despite its importance of being a common guide for paraspinal approach in anesthesia, varies in its location among various anesthesiology textbooks. It may be that the level of Tuffier's line among Koreans is different from that of caucasians. One-hundred and fifteen adult Korean patients (65 males and 53 females) undergoing various orthopedic surgeries were evaluated for the levels of their Tuffier's line. They had neither history of spinal trauma nor congenital anomalies. After the induction, the patients were placed in the jack-knife position and they were marked with a radioopaque indicator along the Tuffier's line. X-ray was taken perpendicular to the marked line. The results were as follows:,1) L1-5 intervertebral space was the most frequent level (69.6%) of Tuffier's line. L5 intervertebral body (20.0%) was the next most common level and was followed by L4 vertebral body (7.8%) and L5-S1 intervertebral space (2,6%). No patient had the line over the L3-4 intervertebral space. 2) The Tuffier's line in men was higher in location than in women. 3) The Tuffier's line in women appeared to rose higher with aging.