Effect of immobilised cervical spine on oropharyngeal sealing pressure with Ambu AuraGain™ Supraglottic airway: A randomised crossover trial

Airway management in patients with suspected or confirmed cervical spine injury: Guidelines from the Difficult Airway Society (DAS), Association of Anaesthetists (AoA), British Society of Orthopaedic Anaesthetists (BSOA), Intensive Care Society (ICS), Neuro Anaesthesia and Critical Care Society (NACCS), Faculty of Prehospital Care and Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM)

BACKGROUND

There are concerns that airway management in patients with suspected or confirmed cervical spine injury may exacerbate an existing neurological deficit, cause a new spinal cord injury or be hazardous due to precautions to avoid neurological injury. However, there are no evidence-based guidelines for practicing clinicians to support safe and effective airway management in this setting.

METHODS

An expert multidisciplinary, multi-society working party conducted a systematic review of contemporary literature (January 2012-June 2022), followed by a three-round Delphi process to produce guidelines to improve airway management for patients with suspected or confirmed cervical spine injury.

RESULTS

We included 67 articles in the systematic review, and successfully agreed 23 recommendations. Evidence supporting recommendations was generally modest, and only one moderate and two strong recommendations were made. Overall, recommendations highlight key principles and techniques for pre-oxygenation and facemask ventilation; supraglottic airway device use; tracheal intubation; adjuncts during tracheal intubation; cricoid force and external laryngeal manipulation; emergency front-of-neck airway access; awake tracheal intubation; and cervical spine immobilisation. We also signpost to recommendations on pre-hospital care, military settings and principles in human factors.

CONCLUSIONS

It is hoped that the pragmatic approach to airway management made within these guidelines will improve the safety and efficacy of airway management in adult patients with suspected or confirmed cervical spine injury.

Comparison of clinical performance of Ambu® AuraGain™ and BlockBuster® in anaesthetised preschool children-A randomised controlled trial

Background and Aims

Supraglottic airway (SGA) devices are a boon to paediatric airway management. The clinical performances of the BlockBuster® laryngeal mask airway (LMA) and Ambu® AuraGain™ in preschool children were compared in this study.

Methods

After ethical approval and trial registration, this randomised controlled study was conducted on 50 children, aged 1-4 years, randomised into two groups. Appropriate sized Ambu® AuraGain™ (group A) and LMA BlockBuster® (group B) were placed as per the manufacturer's recommendation under general anaesthesia. Appropriate size of the endotracheal tube was then chosen and inserted through the device. Primary objective of the study was to compare the oropharyngeal seal pressure (OSP), and secondary objectives were the first attempt intubation success rate, overall intubation success rate, SGA insertion time, intubation time, haemodynamic changes and postoperative pharyngolaryngeal complications. The Chi-square test was used to analyse the categorical variables, while the intragroup comparison of mean changes in outcomes was evaluated by the unpaired t-test. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05.

Results

Demographic parameters were uniformly distributed in both the groups. The mean OSP in group A was 26.6 ± 0.95 cm H2O and in group B was 29.08 ± 0.75 cm H2O. Both the devices were successfully inserted in all the patients. The success rate of blind endotracheal intubation through the device in first attempt was 4% in group A and 80% in group B. Postoperative pharyngolaryngeal complications were relatively less in group B.

Conclusion

LMA BlockBuster® provides higher OSP and provides a higher success rate of blind endotracheal intubation in paediatric patients.

A multicenter and observational study of the Ambu™ AuraGain™ laryngeal mask in adult patients

PURPOSE

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Ambu™ AuraGain™ device by determining its main parameters of use and complications.

METHODS

A total of 250 adult ASA physical status i to iii patients from five hospitals in Spain who received general anaesthesia with a supraglottic airway (SGA) device were enrolled in this study.

RESULTS

The primary outcome was analysed for 244 patients and a median OLP of 32 cm H2O (IQR 28-36 cm H2O) was obtained. Insertion was achieved at first attempt in 85% of cases, and overall in 98% of cases, in a median time of 15 s (12-22.5). We applied manoeuvres in 61% of patients to facilitate the process. Ventilation was effective in 97.2% of the interventions (95% CI 0.99-0.94) throughout the procedure. Insertion of the gastric tube was easily performed in 99.6% of the patients, and the vocal cords were viewed by fibrobronchoscopy in 96.3% of cases. Logistic regression analysis identified the use of sizes smaller than those recommended as a risk factor for low OLP (< 25 cm H2O). The main complication recorded was the presence of blood when withdrawing the SGA device (15%).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results confirm that the use of AuraGain allows airway management in a reliable and effective way achieving high OLP and low incidence of associated complications, establishing it as a useful alternative in the routine clinical setting of anaesthesiologists. AuraGain performance was consistent in all five centres.

Rescue supraglottic airway devices at caesarean delivery: What are the options to consider?

Tracheal intubation is considered the gold standard means of securing the airway in obstetric general anaesthesia because of the increased risk of aspiration. Obstetric failed intubation is relatively rare. Difficult airway guidelines recommend the use of a supraglottic airway device to maintain the airway and to allow rescue ventilation. Failed intubation is associated with a further increased risk of aspiration, therefore there is an argument for performing supraglottic airway-guided flexible bronchoscopic intubation (SAGFBI). The technique of SAGFBI has a high success rate in the non-obstetric population, it protects the airway and it minimises task fixation on repeated attempts at laryngoscopic tracheal intubation. However, after failed intubation via laryngoscopy, there is a lack of specific recommendations or indications for SAGFBI in current obstetric difficult airway guidelines in relation to achieving tracheal intubation. Our narrative review explores the issues pertaining to airway management in these cases: the use of supraglottic airway devices and the techniques of, and technical issues related to, SAGFBI. We also discuss the factors involved in the decision-making process as to whether to proceed with surgery with the airway maintained only with a supraglottic airway device, or to proceed only after SAGFBI.