title: Comparison of supraglottic airway laryngopharyngeal tube, oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airway use by Polish soldiers on the manikin with difficult airway.
abstract: Airway obstruction represents 6% of avoidable deaths in a combat zone. Statistical analysis of deaths in the battlefield during combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that 1% of the soldiers are killed because of airway obstruction. The aim of the study was to objectively evaluate the use of S.A.L.T. (Supraglottic Airway Laryngopharyngeal Tube), oropharyngeal airway (OPA) and nasopharyngeal airway (NPA) on the manikin with difficult airway to assess the risk of air introduction into the stomach during ventilation trauma patient and time of insertion of each device.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study was conducted with the participation of 34 soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces (PAF). They ventilated a manikin using testing devices, to assess the volume of air entering the lungs and the stomach we used specially constructed flowmeters. The mean and median values of all measurements were calculated and compared by means of the Student's t test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  102 device placements and 204 ventilations were performed and evaluated during the study. The median time required for placement of S.A.L.T. was 12.44 sec vs 13.32 sec for NPA vs 9,34 sec for OPA (p<0.05). Mean volumes of air entering the lungs and stomach during ventilation with S.A.L.T. were (ml) 194.23 and 166 respectively, for NPA 218.13 vs 200.93 and for OPA 197.47 vs 169.22.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Total volume of air entering into the stomach using S.A.L.T. was the lowest among all three devices. The use of NPA did not show any clinically important advantage, the fastest insertion time for OPA may be of value in the battlefield.
authors: Medical University of Łódź, Poland, Chair of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Department of Rescue Medicine and Disaster Medicine.
authors: Przemysław
authors: P
authors: Kluj
authors: Medical University of Łódź, Poland, Chair of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Department of Rescue Medicine and Disaster Medicine.
authors: Tomasz
authors: T
authors: Gaszyński
mesh_terms: D000346:Afghanistan; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000628:therapy*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D008348:Manikins; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016544:Patient Simulation; D011044:Poland; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
keywords: S.A.L.T.; TCCC; airway obstruction; nasopharyngeal airway; oropharyngeal airway