cuffed oropharyngeal airway as an aid to fiberoptic intubation

ABSTRACT

The cuffed oropharyngeal airway [COPA] was evaluated as an aid to oral and nasal fibreoptic [FOP] tracheal intubation in 50 adult patients during general anesthesia. The patients were divided into two groups, 25 each, one group incubated with COPA + FOP and the other group with FOP only. In COPA + FOP group, the overall success rate was 96% and failure was 4% in comparison with 88% success and 12% failure in the other group. The side effects as hypoxia due to the more than one attempt for incubation and rescue use of muscle relaxant were less in the COPA + FOP group than the other FOP only group. It can be concluded that the COPA may be a useful aid to fibreoptic tracheal intubation allowing control and support of the airway during the procedure and using various anesthetic techniques in an acceptable amount of time. The ability to perform fibreoptic tracheal incubation while supporting effectively the airway using the COPA may be advantageous in managing the difficult airway and in trainee education