A randomised controlled trial comparing two insertion techniques for the Laryngeal Mask Airway Flexible in patients undergoing dental surgery
Anaesthesia, 06/12/2012

Choo CY et al. – The study suggests the use of the laryngoscope to guide insertion of the Laryngeal Mask Airway Flexible (LMA Flexible) for dental surgery is a better option compared with the standard technique of digital manipulation.

• One hundred and eight patients were randomly assigned into two groups based on the LMA Flexible insertion technique–either laryngoscopy–guided (n=54) or digital manipulation (standard technique; n=54).
• Patient and airway characteristics were recorded before induction of anaesthesia.
• The primary outcome was success rate at first insertion.
• Other outcomes assessed included fibreoptic assessment of laryngeal mask airway placement, haemodynamic changes, need for airway adjustment during surgery and sore throat.

• The success rate of insertion on the first attempt was higher for the laryngoscopy–assisted technique compared with the standard technique (96.3% vs 81.5%, respectively, p<0.05).
• Fibreoptic assessment showed that the former group had better placement of the laryngeal mask airway than the latter (59.3% vs 37% p<0.05).
• There were no significant differences between the two groups for haemodynamic changes.
• Sore throat was more common in the group with the standard technique (35.2% vs 16.7%, p<0.05).