• Ju Mizuno, Shigeho Morita, Maya Suzuki, Hideko Arita, and Kazuo Hanaoka.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8605.
• Masui. 2010 Apr 1;59(4):432-9.

AbstractIn tracheal intubation assisted by tube-guiding devices passing through the tube, such as fiberoptic scopes, bougies, tracheal tube exchange catheters, and light wands, passage of the tube-guiding device, by itself, is often easy. But advancing a tracheal tube with a conventional distal tip over these tube-guiding devices is frequently difficult or impossible, because its rigid, side-beveled tip frequently catches on anatomical features of the airway. A novel tracheal tube, the Parker Flex-Tip tube (Parker Medical, Colorado, USA) has a centered, curved, tapered and flexible distal tip that passes through the airway faster and easier than conventional tracheal tubes. As it is advanced along a tube-guiding device, the tip of the Parker tube travels along the midline of the airway, without the gap that usually exists between the distal edge of a conventional tracheal tube and the tube-guiding device. The gapless, midline travel of the Parker tube leads to a greater incidence of first-attempt intubation success with tube-guiding devices, because there is less risk of tube tip hang-ups on the arytenoids and the vocal cords. Clinically, use of the Parker tube is helpful for oral and nasal intubations, especially in patients with difficult airways.

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