Does Cricoid Pressure Impair Success of Lightwand Intubation?

The lightwand has been used widely for intubation in the operating room (OR) and has been advocated as a rescue device for failed intubation in the ED. Cricoid pressure (CP) is used during rapid sequence intubation to reduce aspiration risk, but there have been no studies examining the effect of CP on the success of intubation using a lightwand. These authors from South Africa randomized 60 patients undergoing elective hysterectomy to lightwand intubation with and without CP.

All patients underwent general anesthesia with thiopental and isoflurane and paralysis with vecuronium. CP was applied by experienced OR nurses. All lightwand intubations were performed by a single anesthetist. All 30 of the no-CP patients were intubated on the first at…