ArticleIndian journal of anaesthesia2026
Positive predictive value of tactile tracheal tube cuff ballotability above the suprasternal notch in detecting the correct positioning of the tracheal tube - A diagnostic accuracy study.
Article in Indian journal of anaesthesia, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and Aims: Most endotracheal tube (ETT) depth assessment methods require extra equipment or expertise. Suprasternal tactile cuff ballotability is a bedside technique; however, its performance against a radiographic standard is not well characterised. This study assessed the accuracy of identifying an ETT cuff position above the lower border of the second thoracic vertebral body (T2LB) on fluoroscopy, interobserver agreement, and the relationship with tip-to-carina distance. Methods: This prospective observational study enroled adults undergoing neuroradiological procedures under general anaesthesia. After intubation, cuff ballotability was assessed by compressing the pilot balloon while palpating the trachea cephalad to the suprasternal notch. Ballotability, ETT marking at the mouth angle, and tip-to-carina distance were recorded. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Interobserver agreement used Fleiss' Kappa (k). Results: Of 85 screened patients, 76 were recruited [mean age 43.58 (13.47) years], and 72 underwent analysis. The correct placement prevalence was 72%. The sensitivity was 98.08% (94.90%-100%), specificity 60.00% (46.68%-71.32%), PPV 86.44% (78.53%-94.35%), and NPV 92.31% (86.15%-98.46%). The interobserver agreement was excellent (κ = 0.77, Conclusion: In this study of non-obese adults under general anaesthesia, suprasternal tactile cuff ballotability had high sensitivity (98.1%) but moderate specificity (60.0%) for identifying the radiographic cuff position at or above T2 vertebral body, with excellent interobserver agreement (κ = 0.77).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.