During the last decade, several new look-around-corner or video airway devices have proven useful in clinical adult practice. Only four of them are currently available in sizes that may be used in children younger than 2 years of age: the AIRTRAQ® Disposable Optical Laryngoscope (Prodol Meditec, Vizcaya, Spain), the GlideScope® Video Laryngoscope (Verathon, Bothell, WA, USA), the Storz DCI® Video Laryngoscope (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany), and the Truview PCD™ Infant (Truphatek, Netanya, Israel). Here, we review the literature and describe the clinical use of each device in this age-group. The four new laryngoscopes are generally effective and may solve many of the problems with difficult intubations in children younger than 2 years of age. The size of the device and the mouth opening it requires determines its usefulness in the smallest infants. Training will be necessary in implementing and deciding when to use the new airway devices, although one of the big challenges of the future will be to maintain the teaching and training of fiber-optic-guided intubations, which remain the gold standard in difficult endotracheal intubations.

Paediatric airway management is a great challenge, especially for anaesthesiologists working in departments with a low number of paediatric surgical procedures. The paediatric airway is substantially different from the adult airway and obstruction leads to rapid desaturation in infants and small children. This paper aims at providing the non-paediatric anaesthesiologist with a set of safe and simple principles for basic paediatric airway management. In contrast to adults, most children with difficult airways are recognised before induction of anaesthesia but problems may arise in all children. Airway obstruction can be avoided by paying close attention to the positioning of the head of the child and by keeping the mouth of the child open during mask ventilation. The use of oral and nasopharyngeal airways, laryngeal mask airways, and cuffed endotracheal tubes is discussed with special reference to the circumstances in infants. A slightly different technique during laryngoscopy is suggested. The treatment of airway oedema and laryngospasm is described.

Rasmussen. Cannot ventilate-cannot intubate an infant: Surgical tracheotomy or transtracheal cannula?.