Skip to main content

ETT tube in peds ...

You decided to intubate a child and wisely remembered that you should also follow with an NG/ OG after intubation to decompress the stomach.  In order to avoid the blank stare when asked "what size"?  Here's a nice mneumonic about Pediatric "tube" sizes... easy as 1-2-3-4!!!  Please note ETT = endotracheal tube size.
  • 1 x ETT = (age/4) + 4 (formula for uncuffed tubes)
  • 2 x ETT = NG/ OG/ foley size
  • 3 x ETT = depth of ETT insertion
  • 4 x ETT = chest tube size (max, e.g. hemothorax)
So for example, a 4-year-old child would get intubated with a 5-0 ETT inserted to depth of 15 cm (3x ETT), a 10Fr NG/OG/foley (2x ETT), and a 20Fr chest tube (4x ETT).
Also, remember that you can use cuffed tubes in any child except neonates but the formula needs to be adjusted as follows: cuffed endotracheal tube ID (mm) = (age/4) + 3.5

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 100 essentials in icu and anesthesia

The most visual experience in anesthesia and critical care education  The 100 essentials of anesthesia and critical care  COMING VERY SOON  stay tuned 

Driving Pressure in ARDS: A new concept!

Driving Pressure and Survival in the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Marcelo B.P. Amato, M.D., Maureen O. Meade, M.D., Arthur S. Slutsky, M.D., Laurent Brochard, M.D., Eduardo L.V. Costa, M.D., David A. Schoenfeld, Ph.D., Thomas E. Stewart, M.D., Matthias Briel, M.D., Daniel Talmor, M.D., M.P.H., Alain Mercat, M.D., Jean-Christophe M. Richard, M.D., Carlos R.R. Carvalho, M.D., and Roy G. Brower, M.D. N Engl J Med 2015; 372:747-755 February 19, 2015 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsa1410639 BACKGROUND Mechanical-ventilation strategies that use lower end-inspiratory (plateau) airway pressures, lower tidal volumes (V T ), and higher positive end-expiratory pressures (PEEPs) can improve survival in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but the relative importance of each of these components is uncertain. Because respiratory-system compliance (C RS ) is strongly related to the volume of aerated remaining functional lung during disease (termed functional lung size)...