• Demet Altun, Achmet Ali, Kemalettin Koltka, Mehmet Buget, Mehmet Çelik, Can Doruk, and Ali Emre Çamcı.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul-Turkey.
• Ulus Travma Acil Cer. 2019 Jul 1; 25 (4): 355-360.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the success rates of ultrasound (US) and palpation methods in identifying the cricothyroid membrane (CTM), and compare the results with the gold standard method-computed tomography (CT) scan.MethodsA total of 110 patients were included into the study. The midline was estimated by a single investigator using both the US and palpation methods from the prominence of the thyroid cartilage to the center of the sternal notch, and the distance was measured (in millimeters) between the two points: Point A (the midpoint of CTM) and Point B (the inferior process of thyroid cartilage). Furthermore, the distance between Point A and Point B was calculated using the CT images. Time taken to assess the CTM by using US and palpation methods were recorded. Moreover, difficulty in using the two methods was measured with the visual analog scale (VAS). In addition, demographic and morphometric characteristics of the patients were noted.ResultsThe CTM was detected accurately in 50 (45.5%) patients with palpation and 82 (74.5%) with US. In the Bland-Altman analysis, a better agreement was observed with US. The time to assess CTM was shorter with US than with palpation, p<0.001. The VAS scores for the palpation and US difficulty were 5.13+-1.1 and 3.32+-0.9 (p<0.001), respectively. While an increased neck circumference and thyromental distance were found to be independent risk factors for the success rates of determining the CTM by palpation, body mass index is an independent risk factor for US.ConclusionLocalization of the CTM is more accurate and easier with US than palpation. Furthermore, the results gathered with US are in a closer range to CT scan.

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