Conventional Laryngoscope Is Comparable to the Airtraq for Pediatric Intubation

All intubations were successful, and complication rates were similar.

To evaluate performance of the pediatric Airtraq laryngoscope, researchers randomized 60 patients (20 infants and 40 children) undergoing elective surgery at two hospitals in England to intubation with a conventional laryngoscope (Miller blade) or the Airtraq (infant-sized blade for patients aged <6 months and pediatric-sized blade for patients aged 6 months to 6 years). Operators were pediatric anesthesiologists who had performed >10 pediatric Airtraq intubations.

All intubations were successful. Mean intubation time was 21 seconds longer with the Airtraq than the conventional laryngoscope overall (47 vs. 26 seconds). In infants, the Airtraq provided better glottic views than the conventional laryngoscope (percentage of glottic opening scor…

Reviewing Authors

Cheryl Lynn Horton, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s bureauAirway Management Education Center

Cheryl Lynn Horton, MD

Disclosures

Speaker’s bureauAirway Management Education Center

Ron M. Walls, MD, FRCPC, FAAEM

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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)