Anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Airtraq as a rescue airway device following failed direct laryngoscopy: a case series.
We report the successful use of the Airtraq as a rescue device following failed direct laryngoscopy, in patients deemed at increased risk for difficult tracheal intubation. In a series of seven patients, repeated attempts at direct laryngoscopy with the Macintosh blade, and the use of manoeuvres to aid intubation, such as the gum elastic bougie placement, were unsuccessful. In contrast, with the Airtraq device, each patient's trachea was successfully intubated on the first attempt. This report underlines the utility of the Airtraq device in these patients.
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This study was undertaken to investigate and calibrate the isoflurane output of an Oxford Miniature Vaporiser (OMV) draw-over vaporiser with reversed gas flows. Plenum or Boyles type machines have gas flowing left to right through the apparatus. Draw over anaesthesia systems, in contrast, traditionally have the carrier gas, air plus oxygen, flowing right to left through the vaporiser. ⋯ The predictable output of the OMV vaporiser assumes the correct direction of gas flows for the device. There are many second hand right to left OMV vaporisers for sale to developing countries where the nuances of vaporiser orientation add unnecessarily to the desired simplicity of anaesthesia. A simple calibration scale for reversed gas flows through the OMV vaporiser would be useful.