Articles: intubation.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 1992
Comparative StudyComparison of the endotracheal tube and laryngeal mask in airway management by paramedical personnel.
An evaluation of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) as a means of airway support when used by paramedical personnel was performed. Forty medical and paramedical students attempted to intubate the tracheas of 40 healthy anesthetized adults with the LMA and a cuffed endotracheal tube (ETT). The number of attempts to achieve correct placement and the time taken to adequately ventilate the lungs were recorded for both devices. ⋯ Five students were unable to intubate the trachea after three attempts with the ETT, but all positioned the LMA satisfactorily on their first try in a mean time of 40 s. We conclude that unskilled operators with minimal training can safely and successfully ventilate unconscious patients more rapidly using the LMA than the ETT. These results suggest the LMA should be available in all areas where resuscitation is performed.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Facilitation of rapid-sequence intubation with large-dose vecuronium with or without priming.
To determine the effect of priming on the intubation and onset times of vecuronium 0.3 mg/kg. ⋯ Seventy-five percent to 85% neuromuscular block of the adductor pollicis, required for atraumatic tracheal intubation, developed in 80 seconds or less when vecuronium 0.3 mg/kg was administered in divided doses and in 140 seconds or less when it was injected as a single bolus dose. Clinical duration of vecuronium 0.3 mg/kg is long and unpredictable, and reversal of residual neuromuscular block may require larger doses of anticholinesterases. It is recommended that an intubating dose of vecuronium 0.3 mg/kg be used only in patients undergoing long surgical procedures that require prolonged postanesthetic mechanical ventilation.
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Endoesophageal prostheses are sometimes used in palliative therapy of esophageal carcinoma. Placement or subsequent manipulation of these devices may require general anesthesia, and these anesthetics are fraught with potential complications, both from the patient's illness and from the prosthesis itself. The two patients in our report presented anesthetic challenges, including acute upper airway obstruction occurring outside the operating theater and management of malignant tracheoesophageal fistula.