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BJA Advance Access published online on September 19, 2006
British Journal of Anaesthesia, doi:10.1093/bja/ael252
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© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2006. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted July 9, 2006

Clinical Investigation

An evaluation of poor LMA CTrachTM{ddagger} views with a fibreoptic laryngoscope and the effectiveness of corrective measures{dagger}

E. H. C. Liu 1 *, R. W. L. Goy 2, and F. G. Chen 1

1 Department of Anaesthesia, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Anaesthesia, National University Hospital, Singapore
2 Department of Anaesthesia, National University Hospital, Singapore

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E. H. C. Liu, E-mail: analiue{at}nus.edu.sg


  Abstract

Background. The LMA CTrachTM{ddagger} system has integrated fibreoptics to enable viewing of the glottis to aid tracheal intubation via a laryngeal mask conduit. Earlier evaluations of this system had shown high success rates of insertion, ventilation and tracheal intubation, but frequent difficulty or failure to view the glottis.

Method. We evaluated CTrach views in 100 patients. In 69 patients with partial or no views of the glottis, we evaluated the causes with the aid of an Olympus LF-DP fibreoptic laryngoscope passed through the CTrach. In those with poor views, we tested the effectiveness of simple corrective measures to improve the views and optimize CTrach placement. These included pushing the CTrach deeper in, partial withdrawal by 6 cm and reinsertion to correct epiglottic downfolding, withdrawal by 1 cm and applying forward lift to correct obstruction by the arytenoids, and complete removal to clean the fibreoptic ports followed by reinsertion when secretions were the problem.

Results. Downfolding of the epiglottis caused poor views in 57 patients, which was correctable in 51. Obstruction of the view by the arytenoids occurred in seven patients and by secretions in five, all of which were correctable. With the Ctrach, we were able to ventilate the lungs in all patients, view the glottis in 94 and intubate the trachea in 97 patients.

Conclusion. Despite the ability to ventilate the lungs in all patients with the CTrach, poor initial views were very frequent, indicating suboptimal placement, although most poor views can be improved, leading to a high intubation success rate.

Keywords: equipment, laryngeal mask; equipment, LMA CTrachTM; intubation, endotracheal; larynx, fibreoptic laryngoscope.

{dagger}Declaration of interest. The LMA Company Singapore supplied the LMA CTrachTM equipment for this study and supported the costs of fibreoptic laryngoscopy and sterilization of equipment. The Department of Anaesthesia, National University Hospital, Singapore has been paid by the LMA Company Singapore for teaching on other laryngeal mask devices in Singapore, China and Malaysia. The authors have evaluated other airway equipment. The Department of Anaesthesia, National University Hospital, Singapore and the authors have not accepted any payment for their evaluations of the LMA CtrachTM or any other airway equipment. None of the authors has any personal financial relationship with or stock holdings in any company whose product is mentioned in this report or with any competing company. Part of this work was presented at the European Society of Anaesthesiology Annual Meeting in June 2006 in Madrid, Spain.

{ddagger}LMA CTrachTM is the property of LMA International N.V.


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British Journal of Anaesthesia, 7 Dec 2006 [Full text]
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