Objective To evaluate the effects of combination of lightwand and direct laryngoscope on heart rate variability (HRV) in tracheal intubation.Methods Elective eighty patients scheduled for general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation were randomly divided into two groups:the direct laryngoscope group (group A,n=40) and the combination of lightwand and direct laryngoscop group(group B,n=40).The HRV analyzed with power spectrum before induction(T0) and after induction(T1),at trachea intubation(T2),1 min(T3) and 5 min(T4) after trachea intubation were measured.The heart rate(HR),the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were recorded simultaneously.Rates of successful intubation and the total time for intubation were also observed.Results Compared with T1,the total frequency (TF) [(1 825±207,1 692±198) ms2/HZ],low frequency (LF)[(815±129,796±127) ms2/HZ] and LF/HF ratio (LF/HF)(4.6±0.9,4.2±0.6) of HRV at T2 and T3 in group A increased significantly than those in group B.So are The HR,SBP and DBP(P＜0.05).The successful intubation rate of group B was higher than that in group A,with shorter time for intubation and fewer complication (P＜0.05).Conclusions Combination of Lightwand and direct laryngoscope in tracheal intubation produces less effects on HRV,with short time for intubation,and high successful intubation rate.