• Ming-Hung Shih, Chin-Yang Chung, Bai-Chuan Su, Chao-Tsen Hung, Shu-Yam Wong, and Teresa Kit-Man Wong.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taoyuan, Taiwan ROC.
• Chang Gung Med J. 2008 May 1;31(3):276-80.

BackgroundVariations in body weight and length (height) in children in the same age group have increased. Traditional age-based formulas often fail to predict the correct endotracheal tube (ETT) size. In our previous study, we devised a new length-based formula as follows: ETT internal diameter (ID) (mm) = 2 + (body length in cm/30). The current study was undertaken to assess the accuracy of this formula in Chinese children.MethodsThe ETT size was selected according to this length-based formula for 336 children who required tracheal intubation during general anesthesia. Incidences of tube change were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square test for differences in accuracy between age groups and body length groups.ResultsThe length-based formula predicted a suitable ETT size in 277 (82.4%) of 336 subjects. There were 59 (17.6%) reintubations. Only 5 (1.49%) patients needed two tube changes when the correct ETT size was 1 mm larger or smaller than predicted. There were no statistically significant differences between age groups or length groups.ConclusionsThe length-based formula ID (mm) = 2 + body length in cm/30 has high accuracy in predicting the appropriate ETT size in Chinese children.

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