Correlation Between Actual Uncuffed Endotracheal Tube Size, the Diameter of the Distal Digit of the Little Finger and the Penlington Formula.

摘要

Fifty-three pediatric patients were involved in this study. The distal joint diameter of the little finger was measured and compared with the overall diameter of the uncuffed endotracheal tube used during anesthesia. Also, the internal diameter of the uncuffed endotracheal tube used during anesthesia was compared to the calculated endotracheal tube size using Penlington's formula. The correlation between uncuffed endotracheal tube size and both distal joint diameter and calculated tube size were both significant at the .01 level (r=.77 versus .90). The finger diameter was consistently larger than the overall diameter of the tube by a mean of 2.2 mm. Penlington's formula estimated the actual tube size in 49% of cases with the tendency for calculated tube size to be smaller than the actual tube size by .5 cm (one tube size). Implication of the findings were discussed and suggestions for further research offered. Keywords: Intubation; Anesthesia; Theses. (kt)