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The Airtraq has consistently outperformed the Macintosh direct laryngoscope for intubation, but does the advantage pertain also to obese patients? Researchers in Brazil randomized 132 patients (ages 18–60) undergoing bariatric surgery (body-mass index ≥35 kg/m2) to intubation in the ramped position with the Macintosh or Airtraq laryngoscope. Operators each had more than 5 years of experience with conventional laryngoscopy and had performed 50 or more Airtraq intubations. Patients with previous difficult intubation were excluded.
The Airtraq had significantly higher first-attempt intubation success (100% vs. 84%) and shorter mean intubation time (14 vs. 37 seconds) than the Macintosh laryngoscope. Glottic view was significantly better in the …