A Non-Blinded, Case Controlled Pilot Study to Evaluate a Novel Mask Ventilation Technique in Patients with Established Risk Factors for Difficult Mask Ventilation

Traditionally, there are two main methods of mask placement during face mask ventilation: one handed (CE) grip and two handed grip (THT). One handed grip is limited by air leaks between mask and patients face on the side opposite to stabilizing hand. Two handed grips provide protection against air leak but require second provider to deliver tidal volumes when using a self inflating bag or anesthesia circuit on manual ventilation. This study introduces modified CE grip which creates a firm seal at patient’s face on both sides of mask, enabling adequate tidal volume delivery with provider’s second hand. Using left hand, provider places the fifth digit along inferior border of body of left mandible. The fourth digit is placed along inferior border of body right mandible. Standing 6 inches to the left and immediately behind a supine patient on an OR table, provider rotates clockwise 45 degrees at hip, keeping elbow against their body, and lifts patient’s chin to 45 degrees. Rotational force at hip augments hand strength while tilting chin. The thumb applies pressure along left border of facemask, and the second and third digits apply pressure to right border of facemask. Methods: Patients with known predictors of difficult mask ventilation (Edentulous, bearded, Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), mallampati 3 or 4) were in experimental group. Normal patients assigned as Controls. After induction of general anesthesia, provider ventilated patient using adult sized facemask. The anesthesia ventilator delivered standardized tidal volumes. TV, airway pressures, HR and O2 saturation were recorded after each breath. Results: All groups, except OSA, showed improvement, in tidal volumes with the novel technique compared to the traditional CE grip. Conclusion: The novel submandibular technique, an important skill, increases tidal volumes during mask ventilation for certain high risk patients. How to cite this paper: Grech, D., Kam, D., Bryan, G., Israel, H. and Bekker, A. (2016) A Non-Blinded, Case Controlled Pilot Study to Evaluate a Novel Mask Ventilation Technique in Patients with Established Risk Factors for Difficult Mask Ventilation. Open Journal of Anesthesiology, 6, 165-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojanes.2016.610025 Received: April 16, 2016 Accepted: September 27, 2016 Published: September 30, 2016 Copyright © 2016 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access