Cervical Spine Collars Improve LMA Supreme Seal Pressures

. . .for adult patients with normal airway anatomy.

To determine if cervical spine immobilization improves seal pressures with the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) Supreme, researchers in Germany compared seal pressures with and without application of a cervical collar in 50 healthy adult elective surgery patients with normal cervical spine and upper airway anatomy. After LMA Supreme insertion and cuff inflation, position of the LMA Supreme was confirmed. Researchers then compared, in random order, airway leak pressures with the head in neutral and extended positions with and without a cervical collar in place. Patients on continuous steroid medications were excluded.

Median LMA Supreme seal pressures were higher with a cervical collar than without in both the neutral (27 cm H₂O vs. 22 cm H₂O) and…

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

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)