title: [Value of the laryngeal mask in emergency care--a survey of North German emergency physicians].
abstract: In clinical routine, the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) has proved an alternative to both endotracheal intubation and mask ventilation. In a survey among North German emergency physicians, aspects such as doctors' acquaintance with the LMA, the degree of ist distribution, its use and its potential benefits under non-hospital emergency conditions were evaluated. Seventeen per cent (n = 162) of physicians responded to the questionnaire, 75% of them (n = 122) anaesthetists. Although 73% (n = 119) were familiar with the use of the LMA from clinical experience, and again 73% would welcome having LMA use and application as part of the training of non-academic members of ambulance teams, only 24% (n = 37) of the responding doctors have an LMA on their emergency ambulances and merely twelve (7.4%) physicians reported actually using the LMA, one of them unsuccessfully. Sixty-three per cent considered the LMA the first-choice alternative in an unexpected "can't-ventilate-can't-intubate" situation. Use of the LMA should be extended in emergency medicine especially as its application is relatively easy to learn in clinical routine.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Anästhesiologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osthaus
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: André
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ruschulte
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heine
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scheinichen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leuwer
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D008511:Medicine; D013038:Specialization