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O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M AY 2 0 1 4
A N E S T H E S I A
T
he
advan-
tage of
the video laryn-
goscope, a hybrid
of traditional
laryngoscope
blades and the
fiber-optic bron-
choscopes used
for awake intuba-
tion, is that it essentially sees around corners. A camera at the tip of the
blade shows the view from around the airway's 90-degree turn without
the need for patient-head-tilting or provider-neck-craning.
Compare that to traditional direct laryngoscopy, where the anesthesia
provider's point of view is over the handle. The scope's blade has a light
at the tip to illuminate the airway, but the patient's anatomy, which makes
a 90-degree turn from the tongue to the trachea, doesn't offer a direct
sight line.
In order to see through a straight plane, negotiate the airway and
achieve intubation, a provider must tilt the patient's head back and lift up
the tongue. But obesity, cervical spine abnormalities and other anatomi-
cal co-morbidities can complicate these moves, as they do airway man-
agement.
"We used to have fully stocked airway carts: LMAs, light wands, a
fiber-optic bronchoscope," says Kevin S. Henson, CRNA, MSN, the direc-
tor of anesthesia services and chief CRNA at Appalachian Regional
VISION UPGRADE
Video Laryngoscopy's Clear Benefits
LINE OF SIGHT Direct
laryngoscopy requires
patient and provider
manipulation to see
the way in.
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