The effect of the jaw‐thrust manoeuvre on the ability to advance a tracheal tube over a bronchoscope during oral fibreoptic intubation

Summary During fibreoptic intubation, it is often difficult to advance a tracheal tube over the fibreoptic bronchoscope. We performed a prospective randomised study to investigate the effect of the jaw‐thrust manoeuvre on the ability to advance a tracheal tube during oral fibreoptic intubation. After placing the bronchoscope in the trachea, an assistant randomly applied a jaw‐thrust manoeuvre (jaw‐thrust group) or sham manoeuvre (control group) in 82 patients during tube advancement. The jaw‐thrust group had a higher success rate on the first attempt (70.7% vs 34.1%, p = 0.002), required fewer attempts (median (IQR [range]) 1 (1–2 [1–3]) vs 2 (1–3 [1–4]), p < 0.001), and took less time [6 (4–8 [2–16]) s vs 10 (7–15 [3–40]) s, p < 0.001] for tube advancement compared with the control group. The jaw‐thrust manoeuvre facilitates the advancement of a tracheal tube over the bronchoscope during oral fibreoptic intubation.