Background/aim: Mask ventilation in geriatric and edentulous patients can be ineffective or even impossible because of the shape inside the patients' cheeks. For patients for whom a mask cannot be used for long, the use of a laryngeal mask can ease the administration of anesthesia. The aim of this study was to compare the use of the laryngeal mask Unique TM in denticulate and edentulate patients aged over 65 years.Materials and methods: This prospective study included patients according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists I-III classification, aged 65 years or more. The patients were divided into two groups: a dentulous group (n = 33) and an edentulous group (n = 33). The success of the first attempt of insertion, ease of insertion, time taken to insert, and oropharyngeal leak pressure were measured. After insertion of the laryngeal mask Unique TM , a researcher who was unaware of whether the patients had teeth or not conducted an oropharyngeal leak test. Results:The success rate of inserting the laryngeal mask Unique TM on the first attempt was higher in the dentulous group than in the edentulous group. Ease of insertion, time taken to insert, oropharyngeal leak pressure, and laryngopharyngeal morbidity were similar for each group. Conclusion:In this study, successful insertion of the laryngeal mask Unique TM was higher in dentulous than in edentulous patients. We conclude that this effect could have important implications for anesthesiologists managing edentulous geriatric patients with supraglottic airway devices.

ÖzGeneral anesthesia should be done carefully in restrictive lung diseases. Volatile anesthetics may cause intraoperative hypoxia, leading to atelectasis and a reduction in functional residual capacity (FRC) (16-0.5 liters). Regional anesthesia or peripheral nerve blocks seem to be the best choice when appropriate for surgery in this patient group. The epidural or spinal anesthesia should be performed at a level that does not affect the respiratory muscles and diaphragm. The use of regional methods may be preferred in patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery, especially cholecystectomy. In this case report, we present the combined spinal-epidural anesthesia application of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) III in an 80 years old patient with severe restrictive pulmonary disease planned for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.