ABSTRACT
Objective: To compare the postoperative complications between Laryngeal Mask Airway [LMA] and endotracheal tube [ETT] during low-flow anesthesia with controlled ventilation
Methodology: Eighty adult Patients with ASA class I or II were randomly allocated into two forty-patient groups [ETT or LMA]. Cuff pressure was monitored during anesthesia. After high uptake period, fresh gas flow [FGF] was decreased to 1 lit/min and isoflurane set to 1%. Monitoring during anesthesia included non-invasive blood pressure, ECG, ETCO2 and pulse oximetry. System leakage [>100 ml/min], rebreathing and any attempt to increase FGF to overcome the leak were monitored during anesthesia. Later, patients were extubated and transferred to Post Anesthesia Care Unit [PACU]. In PACU, the incidence of sore throat, cough, difficulty in swallowing and shivering was monitored for all patients
Results: Leakage was observed in two and three cases in ETT and LMA groups respectively [P>0.05]. Postoperative cough, sore throat and difficulty in swallowing were significantly less in LMA than ETT group. No significant difference was observed regarding ETCo2 values between 2 groups
Conclusion: If careful measures regarding insertion techniques, correct LMA position and routine monitoring of LMA cuff pressure are taken, LMA can be used as a safe alternative with lower incidence of post operation complication compared with ETT during low-flow controlled anesthesia with modern anesthetic machines