Comparison of Tracheal Diameter Measured by Chest X-Ray and by Computed Tomography

Assessments of tracheal diameter (TD) are important to select proper endotracheal tubes. Previous studies have used X-ray and physical indices to estimate tracheal diameter but these may not reflect the actual TD. We compared TD measured by X-ray (TD-XP) and by computer tomography (TD-CT) in 200 pat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shigeki Sakuraba, Ryohei Serita, Junya Kuribayashi, Shizuko Kosugi, Hirofumi Arisaka, Kazuichi Yoshida, Junzo Takeda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2010-01-01
Series:Anesthesiology Research and Practice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/269171
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Summary:Assessments of tracheal diameter (TD) are important to select proper endotracheal tubes. Previous studies have used X-ray and physical indices to estimate tracheal diameter but these may not reflect the actual TD. We compared TD measured by X-ray (TD-XP) and by computer tomography (TD-CT) in 200 patients. Also, we analyzed correlation of TD-CT with physical indices such as age, height, weight, and BMI. TD-XP and TD-CT were significantly correlated (male: n=55, P=.0146; female: n=91, P=.001). TD-XP was 0.4 mm wider in male and 1.0 mm wider in female than TD-CT. However, correlation coefficients of TD-XP and TD-CT are very weak (male: r=0.36; female: r=0.653). TD-CT did not correlate with age, height, weight, or BMI. Our findings suggest that correlations of TD-XP and TD are statistically significant but not clinically significant. Physical indices are not useful to estimate TD.
ISSN:1687-6962
1687-6970