The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is now standard airway management equipment in prehospital and Emergency Department (ED) care. Most providers may not be able to match the pediatric LMA sizes to the appropriate weights of pediatric patients. The exact inflation volumes are also difficult to memorize. To overcome this problem, we propose the following equations: Weight (kg) of patient = 2(2 x LMA...

BACKGROUND Super-obese patients are at increased risk of difficult mask ventilation and difficult intubation. Therefore, devices that allow for simultaneous ventilation/oxygenation during attempts to visualize the entrance to the larynx, increase patient safety. TotalTrack video intubating laryngeal mask is a new device that allows for ventilation during intubation efforts. PATIENTS AND METHO...

BACKGROUND Nowadays laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is popular as one of the best choices for airway management. Low-flow anesthesia has some advantages like lower pollution, hemodynamic stability and cost effectiveness. Volatile anesthetics are widely used for anesthesia maintenance during operations. Sevoflurane has more hemodynamic stability compared to isoflurane, but there are few studies comp...

perform bag mask ventilation on a daily basis, prior to laryngeal mask airway (LMA) insertion and tracheal intubation? It is a common criticism that (over)use of the LMA means trainees perform less intubations and I welcome the recommendation that trainees should be preferentially attached to lists where facemask anaesthesia and intubations occur. Trainees moving between theatres will also incr...

A case series of five patients is described demonstrating the utility of the intubating laryngeal mask airway in the prehospital setting, both as a primary airway rescue device and as a bridge to tracheal intubation. All patients were hypoxaemic, had sustained severe polytrauma and were trapped in their vehicles following road traffic collisions. A probability of survival study showed better-th...

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW During the last two years, several studies have enhanced our knowledge about the influence of pharmacological agents and routine airway management manoeuvres on the airway of paediatric patients. New supraglottic airway devices have been introduced into routine paediatric anaesthesia practice, and the design of paediatric endotracheal tubes has been modified. This review s...

A case of difficult intubation is described in which the problem was overcome by use of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA). The patient had difficulty in mouth opening due to severe burn scar contracture around the mouth and limited access prevented tracheal intubation. The use of LMA is shown to have obviated the need for tracheal intubation in the case of a patient whose injuries would have made...

To the Editor:—I read with interest the letter of van Zundert et al. about the valve leaks noted with the new extraglottic/supraglottic airway devices. However, there appears to be an unintentional error in their letter. In the first sentence, the authors mention that they are reporting six cases of spontaneous cuff deflation during a clinical trial with a new airway device, which sounds like t...

We report two cases of severe upper airway obstruction caused by supraglottic oedema which developed rapidly at the time of anaesthesia. Conventional methods to relieve the obstruction failed and it was only overcome when a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was inserted and positive pressure applied manually during inspiration. In one case a fibrescope was passed via the LMA and this revealed two cus...

Airway control during interhospital transport may present enormous management difficulties, even for experienced personnel. The laryngeal mask airway is an airway management device that has been established as a safe reliable tool in adult and pediatric practice. We describe 2 cases of successful interhospital transfer of infants with congenital airway malformations with the use of the laryngea...