title: 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).
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, National Taiwan University Hospital.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Luu
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Jaing
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luciana
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007440:Intubation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012044:Regression Analysis