الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 98 |  |  |
| | | from | 98 | | |
Abstract
N
umerous techniques exist for discriminating between endotracheal and esophageal placement. However, while it is now straightforward to discriminate tracheal intubation from esophageal intubation, identifying correct location of the endotracheal tube (ETT) remains challenging. Endobronchial intubation carries potential serious complications such as hypoxemia, atelectasis, hyperinflation, and barotrauma and can lead to pulmonary infection if not diagnosed early.
Auscultation has been the standard for determining ETT. However, the use of auscultation to distinguish between tracheal and bronchial intubation has been shown to be unreliable.
The gold standard approach for determining the ETT position is fibro-optic bronchoscopy, however it is not always available, it takes more time, it is an invasive procedure and it can be challenging especially when there is mucus or blood in the airway.
Ultrasonography is quick and inexpensive, and already readily available in the clinical areas where endotracheal intubation occurs.
Recent studies suggest the ability to use lung ultrasound to verify bilateral ventilation by examining for lung sliding.
In our study, sixty intubated adult ICU patients were examined by auscultation, ultrasound, and fiberoptic bronchoscopy by three different blinded physicians to detect the position of the ETT and it showed that lung ultrasound has a sensitivity of 85.7% for detecting the proper endotracheal tube position, compared to fiberoptic bronchoscopy.