• Kaoru Matsuyama, Mari Shibata, Waso Fujinaka, Makoto Takatori, and Keiichi Tada.
• Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Hiroshima City Hospital, Hiroshima 730-8518.
• Masui. 2012 Jan 1;61(1):64-7.

BackgroundAlthough Airtraq (ATQ) is well accepted as a useful device for tracheal intubation especially in cases of difficult airway management, we sometimes encounter difficulty in insertion of a tracheal tube along the blade of ATQ across the vocal cord in spite of ATQ assistance. Gum Elastic Bougie (GEB) is well known as a practical device for intubation assistance with Macintosh laryngoscope. We studied the efficacy of GEB for intubation with ATQ.MethodsOne-hundred-forty one patients scheduled for general anesthesia, ASA physical status 1 or 2, were allocated into two groups randomly; patients intubated with ATQ without GEB (n = 70), and those with ATQ with GEB (n = 71). Twenty anesthegiologists were assinged to them evenly according to their experience. We measured the time they needed for intubation.ResultsThe combinational advantage of ATQ and GEB was not significantly proved among board certified anesthesiologist. However, among non-board-certified anesthesiologist group, the time needed for successful intubation was significantly shorter with combined use of ATQ and GEB.ConclusionsFor the people with less experience of intubation, GEB is useful assistance for intubation with ATQ. It was concluded that the combined use of ATQ and GEB is a simple and effective process for ordinary doctors or paramedics.

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