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Endotracheal tube (ETT) depth and tidal volume
Oral ETT insertion depth and lung-protective tidal volume from height.
Endotracheal tube (ETT) depth and tidal volume
Sex
Height
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When to use
- Setting an initial lung-protective tidal volume based on ideal body weight.
- Estimating oral endotracheal tube insertion depth from patient height.
Formula
IBW (Devine): male 50 + 2.3 x (height_in - 60); female 45.5 + 2.3 x (height_in - 60). Tidal volume = 6-8 mL/kg IBW. Oral ETT depth (cm) = 0.1 x height(cm) + 4.
Pearls and pitfalls
- Tidal volume is dosed to ideal, not actual, body weight; obesity does not increase the target volume.
- Always confirm tube depth with auscultation, waveform capnography, and chest radiograph.