title: Comparison of air-Q(®) and Soft Seal(®) laryngeal mask for airway management by novice doctors during infant chest compression: a manikin study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent resuscitation guidelines for infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) emphasise that rescuers should minimise the interruption of chest compressions. To that end, supraglottic devices such as laryngeal mask airways (LMAs) are suggested as a backup for airway management during infant CPR. We therefore compared the utility of the air-Q(®) LMA (air-Q) with that of the Soft Seal(®) LMA (Soft Seal) for infant CPR in an infant manikin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four novice doctors in the anaesthesia department performed insertion and ventilation with air-Q and Soft Seal on an infant manikin with or without chest compression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two doctors failed to insert the Soft Seal without chest compression, while nine failed during chest compression (P<0.05). However, only one doctor failed to insert the air-Q without chest compression, and two doctors failed during chest compression. Insertion time was not significantly increased with chest compression using either device. Insertion time during chest compression was significantly shorter for the air-Q than for the Soft Seal (P<0.05). The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate difficulty of use (0mm (extremely easy) to 100mm (extremely difficult)). VAS scores did not change significantly by the addition of chest compression with either device; however, VAS scores during chest compression were significantly higher with Soft Seal than with the air-Q device.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that novice doctors find the air-Q easier to use than Soft Seal for emergency airway management during chest compression in infants, in an infant manikin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan. nkomazaw@hyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Nobuyasu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komasawa
authors.forename: Ryusuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.forename: Noriyasu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Atagi
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Yoshiroh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaminoh
authors.forename: Chikara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tashiro
mesh_terms: D058109:Airway Management / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004867:Equipment Design; D006336:Heart Massage / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D008348:Manikins