A comparison of blind and lightwand guided tracheal intubation through the intubating laryngeal mask airway

Abstract

The purpose of our study was to compare blind versus lightwand guided technique of intubation through the ILMA with respect to success of intubation, time taken for successful intubation and incidence of pharyngolaryngeal morbidity. A written and informed consent for participation in the study was obtained from the patients selected. Patients were kept nil per oral as per the standard protocol. Patients were randomly allocated to one of two equal sized groups (n=30 each). A random number table was used for randomization and they were divided to two groups. Intubation through the ILMA was successful in all 60 patients involved in the study, with an overall success rate of 100%. There was no statistical difference in the median intubation time between the two groups as determined by the Mann Whitney U test. However, intubation times in the blind group had a skewed distribution as indicated by the large standard deviation. Whereas, the lightwand group had intubation times closer to the mean.