also had to take another factor into consideration— pulmonary aspiration. Airway reflexes are necessary to minimize aspiration, and to expel out aspirated materials from the airway, if aspirated. Therefore, while inhibition of the airway reflexes (by topical anaesthesia, sedation, or both) would reduce the stress to awake patients, it also increases the risk of aspiration. All three patients re...

The 2005 American Heart Association Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Guidelines emphasize minimizing the interruption of chest compression to maximize coronary and cerebral perfusion pressure. In an emergency situation, airway management is often performed by a less experienced physician, in sub-optimal conditions. Introduction of video laryngoscopes might have benefits in these situations. ...

The aim of the present paper is to review the literature regarding video-laryngoscopes (Storz V-Mac and C-Mac, Glidescope, McGrath, Pentax-Airway Scope, Airtraq and Bullard) and discuss their clinical role in airway management. Video-laryngoscopes are new intubation devices, which provide an indirect view of the upper airway. In difficult airway management, they improve Cormack-Lehane grade and...