Confused by all the types of Adult Cuffed ETTs? 🤯 Read on 👇🏻
ETT stands for “endotracheal tube”, which means the tube is designed to placed into the trachea.
The main categories are:
👉🏻ORAL v NASAL
👉🏻PLAIN V REINFORCED
👉🏻NARROW v REGULAR
1️⃣ Plain oral ETT 👄
This is the most common type. It’s great for supine cases below the clavicles. They are cheap and available, but do have a tendency to kink in certain positions when warm.
2️⃣ Oral RAE tube 👄
RAE stands for Ring, Adair and Elwyn (the inventors), but “Right Angled ETT” also works! These are made of the same materials as the plain ETT, but have a preformed bend at the lips and travels inferiorly towards the patient’s feet.
This is handy for oral surgery such as tonsillectomy, as it either fits in the surgical equipment or stays out of the surgeon’s way.
3️⃣ Nasal RAE tube 👃🏻
As the name suggests, it goes through the nose! Instead of going towards the feet, it goes towards the top of the head. This is great for dental surgery, major oral surgery and it often used in awake bronchoscopic intubations.
4️⃣ Oral reinforced ETT 👄
These are the same shape as the plain oral ETT, but have lots of metal rings reinforcing the tube. This makes it more FLEXIBLE and less prone to KINKING.
They are great for neurosurgery, prone and lateral cases, and it’s easier to reach the pilot balloon. One drawback though… if a patient bites the tube, it may remain occluded!
5️⃣ Microlaryngeal tube (MLT) 👄
These are narrow tubes with a cuff that is big enough for the adult trachea. This is handy for microlaryngoscopy (surgical evaluation/biopsy of the larynx), and patient with a narrow trachea.
They come in 4mm, 5mm and 6mm – which denotes the interior diameter of the tube.
🤓🤓
Take some time to inspect the various tubes available in your hospital, and email us if you want to chat about them!
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