Selection and Placement of Double-Lumen Tubes in Asian Patients

Abstract

In the first part of the study performed at Stanford University, 30 Asian born and 163 non-Asian born patients matched by height and weight had left-sided double-lumen tubes selected on the basis of the width of each patient's trachea. In the second part of the study performed at the Philippines Lung Center and Santo Tomas University Hospital, left-sided double-lumen tubes were selected on the basis of the anesthesiologists' clinical experience for 22 patients and by tracheal width guidelines for 35 patients. When tubes were selected by tracheal width, there was no difference between those used for Asian and non-Asian patients of similar size. We concluded that measurement of tracheal width can be used to select the appropriate size of left-sided double-lumen tubes for all patients.