Korean J Anesthesiol.  1998 Oct;35(4):722-726. 10.4097/kjae.1998.35.4.722.

The Depth of Insertion for Left-Sided Double-Lumen Endotracheal Tube is Correlated with the Height and the Length of Sternocleidomastoid Muscle

• Park KS
• Bahk JH
• Oh YS
• Kwak IY

• KMID: 2091273
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.1998.35.4.722

Abstract

BACKGREOUND: When a double-lumen endotracheal tube (DLT) is used for one-lung ventilation, its position should be accurate. But only a few studies has been performed about how to predict the depth of insertion for DLT preoperatively. The purpose of this study is to investigate which physical measurements are correlated with the depth of insertion for left-sided DLT and how the depth of insertion for DLT can be explained with these physical measurements.
METHODS
After placing a 5 cm-high pillow under the patient's head, we intubated left-sided disposable DLT (BronchocathTM, Mallinckrodt medical Ltd, USA) in 65 adults. We tape-measured sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) length and sternal length. We positioned the proximal margin of the bronchial cuff of DLT just below carinal bifurcation through fiberoptic bronchoscope, and recorded the depth of insertion for DLT at the upper incisor level.
RESULTS
The depth of insertion for DLT was correlated with both height (y=3.96+0.15x, r2=0.51, p=0.0001) and SCM length (y=16.73+0.82x, r2=0.49, p=0.0001). Sternal length (r2=0.11, p=0.0081) was weakly correlated with the depth of insertion for DLT. The best regression model was depth of insertion for DLT (cm)=6.88+0.09 height (cm)x0.46 SCM length (cm).
CONCLUSIONS
The depth of insertion for DLT is correlated with SCM length as well as height. So we may use them in predicting the depth of insertion for DLT.

Keyword

Anatomy: airway; Anesthetic techniques: intubation; Equipment:double-lumen tube; Measurement technique: height; sternocleidomastoid length; sternal length

MeSH Terms

Adult
Bronchoscopes
Head
Humans
Incisor
One-Lung Ventilation