Secondary confirmation of endotracheal tube position by ultrasound image.

OBJECTIVE: Secondary confirmation of endotracheal (ET) tube position by ultrasound image.

DESIGN: Prospective, randomized study.

SETTING: A medical center-based tertiary pediatric intensive care unit.

PATIENTS: A total of 59 patients aged from newborn to 17 yrs old underwent ET tube insertion because of cardiopulmonary arrest or impending respiratory failure.

INTERVENTION: Ultrasound imaging was performed immediately before and after the ET tube placement procedure. The most frequently used ultrasonic scanning window was the subxiphoid window at the mid-upper abdominal, just beneath the xiphoid process and the lower margin of liver. The sector angle was set as wide as possible (90 degrees) so that the bilateral diaphragm could be well scanned.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Using the ultrasound imaging method, we successfully identified all of two esophageal intubations and eight incidents of initial ET tube misplacement, which had been positioned down to the right main bronchus. Finally, we successfully identified all 59 of the correct placements of ET tubes in the trachea.

CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound imaging of diaphragm motion is a useful, quick, noninvasive, portable, and direct anatomic method for assessment of ET tube position. We think it should be considered the method of choice for the secondary confirmation of the ET tube position.