Laryngoscopy Requires More Force When Manual In-Line Stabilization Is Used

Glottic view is also worse when manual in-line stabilization is applied.

Manual in-line stabilization (MILS) of the cervical spine (C-spine) during laryngoscopy is intended to minimize flexion or extension force on the potentially injured C-spine but might require intubators to apply more pressure than they would without MILS. To determine the effect of MILS on laryngoscopy force during intubation, experienced anesthesiologists (mean years of experience, 19) intubated 10 elective anesthesia patients with and without MILS (in random order) using a special Macintosh 3 laryngoscope blade with multiple pressure transducers. One patient was excluded from analysis for protocol violation.

The best glottic view obtained was the same with and without MILS in three patients but was worse with MILS in the other six patients…

Reviewing Author

Ron M. Walls, MD, FRCPC, FAAEM

Disclosures

Speaker's bureauAirway Management Education Center, LLC

EquityAirway Management Education Center, LLC

Grant / Research supportAgency for Health Care Research and Quality

Editorial boardsManual of Emergency Airway Management; Rosen's Emergency Medicine; UpToDate; Scientific American Medicine

Leadership positions in professional societiesAssociation of Academic Chairs in Emergency Medicine (President)

Ron M. Walls, MD, FRCPC, FAAEM

Disclosures

Speaker's bureauAirway Management Education Center, LLC

EquityAirway Management Education Center, LLC

Grant / Research supportAgency for Health Care Research and Quality

Editorial boardsManual of Emergency Airway Management; Rosen's Emergency Medicine; UpToDate; Scientific American Medicine

Leadership positions in professional societiesAssociation of Academic Chairs in Emergency Medicine (President)