Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Contribution of the nasal passage to face mask ventilation: a prospective blinded randomized crossover trial.
Previous studies have shown that the nasal passage plays an important role in manual face mask ventilation, but this has yet to be quantitatively assessed. We conducted a prospective randomized crossover clinical trial to compare the change in pressure-controlled face mask tidal volume with and without nasal airway occlusion. ⋯ Nasal passage obstruction considerably reduces tidal volume achieved during face mask ventilation. In some patients, it may be advantageous to relieve nasal airway obstruction for effective face mask ventilation.