MS#05 Airtraq vs standard laryngoscopy

Anaesthesia, 2008, 63, pages 26–31
M. Woollard. Australian College of Ambulance Professionals

The first of two studies reported in this paper aimed to determine whether use of the Airtraq by pre-employment third-year student paramedics resulted in improved intubation success rates compared with standard laryngoscopy in a manikin model of a Cormack and Lehane grade III ⁄ IV laryngoscopic view.

The second study compared the intubation success rates of experienced prehospital laryngoscopists when managing the same model of a difficult intubation using either an Airtraq or a Macintosh laryngoscope.

The studies reported in this paper have demonstrated that, in a manikin model ofdifficult intubation, both student paramedics and experienced prehospital laryngoscopists rate the Airtraq as significantly easier to use than a Macintosh laryngoscope with a malleable stylet after minimal additional training.

Both groups achieved significantly higher first-time intubation success rates and significantly fewer failed and oesophageal intubations with the Airtraq device.

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