• D Redfern, S Rassam, M R Stacey, and J S Mecklenburgh.
• Department of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK.
• Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2006 Feb 1;23(2):169-72.

Background And ObjectiveWe conducted a study investigating the effectiveness of four face mask designs in the bag-mask ventilation of a special manikin adapted to simulate a difficult airway.MethodsForty-eight anaesthetists volunteered to bag-mask ventilate the manikin for 3 min with four different face masks. The primary outcome of the study was to calculate mean percentage leak from the face masks over 3 min. Anaesthetists were also asked to rate the face masks using a visual analogue score.ResultsThe single-use scented intersurgical face mask had the lowest mean leak (20%). This was significantly lower than the mean leak from the single-use, cushioned 7,000 series Air Safety Ltd. face mask (24%) and the reusable silicone Laerdal face mask (27%) but not significantly lower than the mean leak from the reusable anatomical intersurgical face mask (23%).ConclusionsThere was a large variation in both performance and satisfaction between anaesthetists with each design. This highlights the importance of having a variety of face masks available for emergency use.

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