• Tetsuro Kimura, Takasumi Katoh, Takashi Ogasawara, Soichiro Mimuro, Hiroshi Makino, Akira Suzuki, and Shigehito Sato.
• Masui. 2016 Jan 1; 65 (1): 68-74.

BackgroundA transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) probe is often inserted blindly. However, it is desirable to insert it under visual guidance because the blind technique sometimes causes difficulty and may contribute to serious, but rare, complications. This prospective study compared the usefulness of TEE insertion between a brand-new McGRATH MAC video laryngoscope (McGRATH) and a Macintosh laryngoscope (Macintosh).MethodsWe randomly assigned 80 adult patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery into two groups according to the laryngoscope used for TEE probe insertion: the McGRATH (McG Group; n = 40) and Macintosh (MC Group; n = 40) groups. End points included patient demographics, procedure duration, and resistance during insertion (grades 1-5).ResultsNo differences were found in patient demographics between the groups. There was no significant difference in procedure duration between the groups (P = 0.116). Resistance during insertion was significantly lower in the McG Group than in the MC Group (P < 0.001). There were no failures of insertion in the McG Group.ConclusionsThere were no failures of insertion in the McG Group. Resistance during insertion was lower with the McGRATH than Macintosh. The McGRATH was shown to be very useful when inserting TEE probes.

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