Confused on inline catheters when suctioning

[dblpn]

Next week i'll be starting a hh case with an 11 yr. old on a vent with a trach. i was told she has the inline closed catheter for suctioning, and there are depth markings on the catheter that tells us how far we can go down to suction her. this is set by the doc's of course. what i want to know, let's say the number is set at 10, for example, do you advance the catheter through until you don't see the number 10 anymore? i'm really confused on that part of the process. this is so hard to explain but this is the best i can do. i've done suctioning before using the closed system on adults but no numbers were present on the catheters.

Really appreciate all responses :)

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

There's a clear window on the connector for the in-line suction catheter. You advance the catheter until the number is visible inside the window and then apply your suction. You only want the tip of the catheter to barely pass the end of the trach tube so as not to cause irritation or injury to the trachea.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Ask the parent: Because at my facility, the 'safe suction length' indicates the number that should stay visible above the adapter. We actually use the color -as in 'double blue'. So if a child's safe suction length is 'double blue' we would grasp the double blue marking on the catheter and advance the catheter until our fingers stopped the insertion at the plastic adapter.

[dblpn]

Thank you so much this was a huge help and relief. I was really going bonkers over this.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Ask the parent: Because at my facility, the 'safe suction length' indicates the number that should stay visible above the adapter. We actually use the color -as in 'double blue'. So if a child's safe suction length is 'double blue' we would grasp the double blue marking on the catheter and advance the catheter until our fingers stopped the insertion at the plastic adapter.

That's how I've always done it too.

[chare]

I have always matched the number on the suction catheter to the number on the endotracheal tube. If you are using anything else as your marker, it is important that you know the additional distance between the reference number on the tube and what you are using.

[anon456, BSN, RN]

You can correctly measure the suction length by using a spare or old trach. Put a regular catheter down the trach until just the very tiny part of the tip is at the end of the trach. We teach this to parents, although we also have it pretty well memorized which trachs to suction how far down. Sometimes we get longer or custom trachs.