1 2 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E J U LY 2 0 1 6
Some providers argue that
video laryngoscopes have
essentially made direct
laryngoscopy obsolete. The
authors of a study in the
British Journal of Anaesthesia
(osmag.net/ep5ddx) see no
reason not to use video
laryngoscopes for all intuba-
tions. Video tools, they claim,
have become the anesthesia
provider's equivalent of smart phones — and stubborn insistence on using
direct laryngoscopy is like clinging to an old-fashioned flip phone.
Citing patient safety as the overriding concern, ease of use isn't the only fac-
tor to consider. Since studies (osmag.net/hbq9vv) show that patients with diffi-
cult airways can't be counted on to adequately inform subsequent providers,
digital airway prints should routinely be stored and made available for viewing
before all future intubations, say the study's authors. For all patients, they sug-
gest, videos can be included in electronic charting, and viewing them before
intubation should "become as standard as regarding a patient's
laboratory results."
Cost should be of little concern, note the authors. Prices of video laryngo-
scopes have decreased recently to where most cost no more than a syringe infu-
sion pump, they point out, and disposable blades, they speculate, will eventually
cost only about as much as tracheal tubes — as long as providers start using
them with every patient.
— Jim Burger
• RISKY PROPOSITION Even the most conservative outpatient facilities may put
themselves at risk if they don't invest in cutting-edge airway equipment.
UP FOR DEBATE
Is Video Laryngoscopy The New Standard of Care?
