Estimation of the length of nasopharyngeal airway in Chinese adults

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal airway should be placed to reach the tongue base without contact with the epiglottis. The correct length of the nasopharyngeal airway in Chinese adults was estimated in seventy-three surgical patients under general anesthesia (30 males and 43 females, aged 18-82 yr). Measurements were performed with a soft, uncuffed, ID 6.0 mm endotracheal tube (Portex) introduced through the nasopharyngeal passage. The proper tip placement of the tube was evaluated under direct laryngoscopy. The Nostril-epiglottis distance (N-E distance) is 15.31 +/- 1.09 cm (mean +/- SD) for all cases, 16.03 +/- 1.04 cm for male cases and 14.97 +/- 0.95 cm for female cases. There are correlation between the N-E distance and the height (p less than 0.001, r = 0.41), and between the N-E distance and the N-A distance (The distance from nose tip to mandibular angle) (p less than 0.004, r = 0.324). Linear regression analysis relating the N-E distance to the height and the N-E distance to the N-A distance were also statistically significant (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.01, respectively).