BACKGROUND Laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation provoke a marked sympathetic response, potentially harmful in patients with cerebral or cardiovascular pathology or haemorrhage. Standard pre-hospital rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia (RSI) does not incorporate agents that attenuate this response. It is not known if a clinically significant response occurs following pre-hospital RSI or what...

The laryngoscope should displace oral soft tissues forward out of the operator's vision. Therefore, the space in front of the view may be critical for determining the laryngoscopic view. The aim was to investigate the difference in the previsional space during difficult versus easy laryngoscopy (EL).Under general anesthesia, digital photographs of the lateral view of the head and neck were take...

Background. Teaching direct laryngoscopy is limited by the inability of the instructor to simultaneously view the airway with the laryngoscopist. Our primary aim is to report our initial use of the GlideScope Direct, a video-enabled, Macintosh laryngoscope intended primarily as a training tool in direct laryngoscopy. Methods. The GlideScope Direct was made available to anyone who planned on per...

BACKGROUND Video laryngoscopes have been introduced in recent years as an alternative choice to facilitate tracheal intubation. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess their value when compared with direct laryngoscopy. METHODS PubMed and EMBASE were searched up until 24 September 2010. Randomised trials that reported data on the comparison of video laryngoscopes with direct laryngoscopy for t...

BACKGROUND Indirect laryngoscopy (IDL) is often performed prior to thyroid surgery to detect pre-existing vocal cord pathology. METHODS A retrospective chart review of 201 patients undergoing thyroid surgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital was undertaken in order to study the patterns of pre-operative and postoperative voice changes and IDL findings. RESULTS A total of 9% of patients had pr...

Application of cervical collars may reduce cervical spine movements but render tracheal intubation with a standard laryngoscope difficult if not impossible. We hypothesised that despite the presence of a Philadelphia Patriot cervical collar and with the patient's head taped to the trolley, tracheal intubation would be possible in 50 adult patients using the GlideScope and its dedicated stylet. ...

BACKGROUND Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures have higher incidence of difficult laryngoscopy and intubation than general surgery population. Accurate prediction of difficult laryngoscopy in CABG patients is desirable to reduce the hemodynamic response and myocardial oxygen requirements. Recently, thyromental height test (TMHT) has been proposed as one of the hig...