Diagnosed With Tracheobronchomalacia And Subglottic Stenosis. What Is Suction Depth?

Posted on Tue, 19 Mar 2013

Question: what is suction depth for pead shiley 4.0 tracheoctomyhello i am wondering wat is the suction depth for size 4 trachy my son been diagnosed with tracheobronchomalacia and subglottic stenosis grade 3 at birth has a trachy did have a 3.5 neo mthen 3.5 pead now 4.0 pead. he dependant on cpap ventilator highest pressure at 15 months old just askimg for suction depth as some people say 6cm, some say 6.5cm and 7cm so am confused

Answered by Dr. Samik Basu (4 hours later)

Hi ,
Thank you for your query.
I feel extremely sorry for your son's condition.
Actually there is no fixed suction depth per se.
The suction catheter should be introduced slowly and should be stopped before it hits the XXXXXXX The XXXXXXX is the area where the trachea bifurcates.
It is usually the site where cough reflex ends.
The advice would be to slowly introduce the catheter and when you hit an obstruction and your child tries to cough...that is when you stop and withdraw slowly sucking the mucus in a rolling motion.
Once you reach the site you can have an idea how XXXXXXX you must go each time.
If you have any further queries you are free to consult me.
Hope this answers your query.
Wishing a speedy recovery.
Have a nice day.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar