• Seok-Joon Jin, Yoon-Ji Choi, Sang-Wook Park, and Yu-Mi Lee.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Centre, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• J. Int. Med. Res. 2015 Jun 1;43(3):460-7.

ObjectivesTo measure the migration of oral Ring-Adair-Elwyn (RAE) preformed tracheal tubes during neck extension compared with the neutral neck position, and to assess the correlation between changes in the thyromental distance (TMD) during changes in neck position and tracheal tube migration.MethodsThis prospective observational study enrolled adult patients undergoing elective neck or thyroid procedures below the mandible. Using fibreoptic bronchoscopy, distances from the RAE tube adapter to the carina and to the tube tip were measured in the neutral position and after neck extension with a 10 cm D-shaped gel shoulder positioner. The change in distance of the RAE tube tip migration was compared with the change in TMD in each patient.ResultsThis study enrolled 106 patients. During neck extension with a 10-cm shoulder positioner, RAE tubes cranially migrated 2.7 cm from the neutral position, but RAE tube migration was not correlated with the change in external TMD.ConclusionOral RAE tube migration was not significantly correlated with the change in external TMD. Due to their large variability, changes in TMD were not useful predictors of RAE tube migration.© The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

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