Abstract

Accurate endotracheal tube (ETT) size selection is essential in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery to minimize airway trauma and post-extubation complications. Traditional weight- and height-based formulas often fail to provide reliable predictions, necessitating the use of alternative methods, such as airway ultrasonography (USG). This study aims to assess the predictive effectiveness of USG in determining ETT size compared to conventional formulas. This prospective, single-center study included 20 pediatric patients younger than one year of age undergoing cardiac surgery. Preoperative ETT size predictions were obtained using USG, weight-based, and height-based formulas. The clinically applied ETT size was recorded, and statistical analyses, including correlation analysis, multivariate logistic regression, and Bland-Altman analysis, were performed to compare predictive accuracy. USG-predicted ETT sizes showed complete agreement with the clinically used ETT in all cases (100%), demonstrating a perfect correlation (r=1.00, p

Key words: Airway ultrasonography, pediatric anesthesia, endotracheal tube size, cardiac surgery, predictive accuracy