Sir,—Brock-Utne and Jaffe recommend the sitting position for fibreoptic intubation in the presence of a full stomach [1]. I would endorse this for most patients undergoing fibreoptic intubation, as there are several advantages in addition to those mentioned in their letter. The sitting position is more natural for the patient and allows face-to-face communication with the anaesthetist. This mak...

Specific cell typing in lung cancer has important implications for assessment of prognosis and the planning of treatment. Cell typing is, however, often difficult and the problem has been compounded by the universal use of the flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope, which yields specimens only 2 mm in diameter. We have reviewed the records of 107 patients who had a diagnosis of lung cancer establishe...

We read with interest the article by Tong [1] and agree that the Airtraq optical laryngoscope is easy to use and can provide a full indirect view of the glottis when traditional direct laryngoscopy has failed. We would like to report the successful use of the Airtraq as a rescue device following failed awake fibreoptic intubation in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). A 48-yr-old male w...

EDITOR: We read with great interest the paper by Slater and Bhatia [1]. In patients such as the one described in which surgery could represent a potential physical conflict for airway management, airway preoperative evaluation should be rigorous and precise, so as to allow planning of first-line strategy and of a ‘plan B’ in case of failure. In this case, no such information was available for t...

PURPOSE To verify if correct ProSeal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) placement may condition blind insertion of a gastric tube via the PLMA. METHODS The PLMA was studied in 150 anesthetized patients using a size #4 in (females) and #5 in (males). Its position was determined by inserting a fibrescope in the airway tube. A lubricated gastric tube was inserted through the PLMA drainage tube, record...

We have investigated the correlation between the scores attained on computerized psychometric tests, measuring psychomotor and information processing aptitudes, and learning fibreoptic endoscopy with the videoendoscope. Sixteen anaesthetic trainees performed two adaptive tracking tasks (ADTRACK 2 and ADTRACK 3) and one information management task (MAZE) from the MICROPAT testing system. They th...

Fibreoptic intubation, high frequency jet ventilation, and videolaryngoscopy form part of the Royal College of Anaesthetists compulsory higher airway training module. Curriculum delivery requires equipment availability and competent trainers. We sought to establish (1) availability of advanced airway equipment in UK hospitals (Survey I) and (2) if those interested in airway management (Difficul...

Guidelines for antibiotic prophylaxis of infective endocarditis prior to fibreoptic bronchoscopy, are based on only five studies, which showed a bacteraemia rate of <1% among 291 patients studied. T his study was designed to expand the current data regarding the frequency of bacteraemia following fibreoptic bronchoscopy. Aerobic and anaerobic cultures of venous blood and of lavage fluid were dr...

PURPOSE The air-Q® intubating laryngeal airway (ILA) is a supraglottic device (SGD) designed specifically to function as both a primary airway and a bridging device and conduit for fibreoptic intubation in difficult airway scenarios. This observational study evaluated the usability and performance characteristics of pediatric air-Q ILA sizes 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 when used as a primary airway....

We have compared intubation time and cardiovascular effects of fibrescope-guided orotracheal intubation aided by the Berman 11 Intubating Airway with those of the tongue traction method of fibreoptic intubation and with conventional Macintosh intubation. We studied 75 patients who received a standard general anaesthetic which included non-depolarizing neuromuscular block; they were allocated ra...