title: Effectiveness of various airway management techniques in a bench model simulating a cardiac arrest patient.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the levels of lung and gastric tidal volumes paramedics achieve when performing ventilation with bag-valve-mask, laryngeal mask, and Combitube. Twenty paramedics performed ventilation with a bag-valve mask, laryngeal mask, and Combitube in a bench model simulating an unintubated cardiorespiratory arrest patient. Lung and gastric tidal volumes and lung and gastric peak airway pressures were subsequently measured. The results showed that mean +/- SEM lung tidal volumes were significantly higher with the laryngeal mask and Combitube compared to the bag-valve-mask (701 +/- 264 vs. 742 +/- 311 vs. 353 +/- 110 mL, respectively). No gastric inflation occurred with the Combitube; gastric inflation was significantly lower with the laryngeal mask compared to the bag-valve-mask (25 +/- 15 vs. 230 +/- 25 mL, respectively). Both the laryngeal mask and Combitube proved to be valid alternatives for bag-valve-mask ventilation in our bench model simulating an unintubated patient with cardiorespiratory arrest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ocker
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wenzel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schmucker
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dörges
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000403:Airway Resistance; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000379:methods*; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D008168:Lung / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013270:Stomach / Q000502:physiology*; D013990:Tidal Volume