title: Comparison of times to achieve tracheal intubation with three techniques using the laryngeal or intubating laryngeal mask airway.
abstract: We compared the times to intubate the trachea using three techniques in 60 healthy patients with normal airways: (i) fibreoptic intubation with a 6.0-mm reinforced tracheal tube through a standard laryngeal mask airway (laryngeal mask-fibreoptic group); (ii) fibreoptic intubation with a dedicated 7.0-mm silicone tracheal tube through the intubating laryngeal mask airway (intubating laryngeal mask-fibreoptic group); (iii) blind intubation with the dedicated 7.0-mm silicone tracheal tube through the intubating laryngeal mask airway (intubating laryngeal mask-blind group). Mean (SD) total intubation times were significantly shorter in the intubating laryngeal mask-blind group (49 (20) s) than in either of the other two groups (intubating laryngeal mask-fibreoptic 74 (21) s; laryngeal mask-fibreoptic group 75 (36) s; p < 0.001). However, intubation at the first attempt was less successful with the intubating laryngeal mask-blind technique (15/20 (75%)) than in the other two groups (intubating laryngeal mask-fibreoptic 19/20 (95%) and laryngeal mask-fibreoptic 16/20 (80%)) although these differences were not statistically significant. We conclude that in this patient group, all three techniques yield acceptable results. If there is a choice of techniques available, the intubating laryngeal mask-blind technique would result in the shortest intubation time.
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX 9 DU, UK.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pandit
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: MacLachlan
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Dravid
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Popat
mesh_terms: D000766:Anesthesia, Dental; D005260:Female; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000379:methods; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D020704:Laryngoscopes; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors