Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition
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Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. · Jul 2001
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialFoot length, an accurate predictor of nasotracheal tube length in neonates.
Existing guidelines for optimal positioning of endotracheal tubes in neonates are based on scanty data and relate to measurements that are either non-linear or poorly reproducible in sick infants. Foot length can be measured simply and rapidly and is related to a number of external body measurements. ⋯ Foot length is a reliable and reproducible predictor of nasotracheal tube length and is at least as accurate as the conventional weight based estimation. This method may be particularly valuable in sick unstable infants.