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Laryngeal mask airway intracuff pressure estimation by digital palpation of the pilot balloon: a comparison of reusable and disposable masks
Author(s) -
Keller C.,
Brimacombe J. R.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2044.1999.00664.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anesthesia , palpation , airway , laryngeal mask airway , balloon , mascara , surgery
Digital palpation of the pilot balloon provides information about the intracuff pressure of the laryngeal mask airway. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate this technique for the reusable and disposable laryngeal mask airway. Ten anaesthetists and 10 recovery‐unit nurses estimated intracuff pressures from low/high initial pressures before/after training. In the pretraining phase, the mean (95% CI) pressure was 99 (94–105) cmH 2 O, but this was significantly lower for the reusable laryngeal mask airway (91 vs. 103 cmH 2 O) and if the initial pressure was low (81 vs. 112 cmH 2 O). In the post‐training phase, there was a significant overall improvement to 75 (66–85) cmH 2 O, but target pressures remained more accurate if the initial pressure was low. Subjects in the training group could estimate 95% of pressures for both devices to within ±10 cmH 2 O of the target if the initial pressure was low. We conclude that anaesthetists and recovery‐unit nurses are capable of accurate estimation of intracuff pressures using the digital palpation technique following a brief period of training.