Airway Obstruction with Sellick's Maneuver, Part I

Since the introduction of the technique by Sellick, cricoid pressure has been used to prevent the reflux of gastric contents during induction and tracheal intubation. Case reports have implicated this maneuver as a possible cause of the "can't intubate, can't ventilate" predicament and have called into question the recommended pressure of 10 pounds (44 newtons). These authors sought to identify possible airway obstruction at different pressures applied to the cricoid cartilage in a convenience sample of 30 patients who were in American Society of Anesthesiologists class I or II and were presenting for elective surgery.

After induction and insertion of a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in each patient, the investigators placed on the external cri…