New options for airway management: intubating fibreoptic stylets.

Fibreoptic and video technologies are widely used for airway management. Fibreoptics have been used in most airway intubation devices, including rigid laryngoscopes and in the tracheal tube wall itself. 22 Optical stylets, which incorporate ̄exible ®breoptic imaging elements in an intubation stylet, have now also become available. More than 10 new optical stylet devices have been introduced since 1995, which shows that combining viewing capability with the familiar handling of a stylet is an appealing concept (Table 1). But are these useful tools? Are their clinical performances similar or is one best? We survey the evolution of optical stylets, describe their properties, summarize their clinical performance and describe an ideal system.