Forty-five children with isolated fingertip injuries were randomized for treatment with either Mepitel silicone net dressings or paraffin gauze dressings. Over a 4 week period, the objective adherence of the dressing, and the perceived level of stress caused to the child by the dressing change were scored by linear analogue scales. The wounds were also assessed for the progress of healing and presence of infection. Twenty children received Mepitel dressings and 25 had paraffin gauze dressings. There was no difference in duration of healing or complication rates between the two groups. Statistically lower scores were seen for the Mepitel group for the first 3 weeks in both adherence and stress scores. These results suggest that silicone net dressings may be a less adherent and less painful method of dressing fingertip injuries in children.

Background:Proper positioning of the head and neck is important for an optimal laryngeal visualization. Traditionally, sniffing position (SP) is recommended to provide a superior glottic visualization, during direct laryngoscopy, enhancing the ease of intubation. Various studies in the last decade of this belief have challenged the need for sniffing position during intubation. We conducted a prospective study comparing the sniffing head position with simple head extension to study the laryngoscopic view and intubation difficulty during direct laryngoscopy.Materials and Methods:Five-hundred patients were included in this study and randomly distributed to SP or simple head extension. In the sniffing group, an incompressible head ring was placed under the head to raise its height by 7 cm from the neutral plane followed by maximal extension of the head. In the simple extension group, no headrest was placed under the head; however, maximal head extension was given at the time of laryngoscopy. Various factors as ability to mask ventilate, laryngoscopic visualization, intubation difficulty, and posture of the anesthesiologist during laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation were noted. In the incidence of difficult laryngoscopy (Cormack Grade III and IV), Intubation Difficulty Scale (IDS score) was compared between the two groups.Results:There was no significant difference between two groups in Cormack grades. The IDS score differed significantly between sniffing group and simple extension group (P = 0.000) with an increased difficulty during intubation in the simple head extension. Patients with simple head extension needed more lifting force, increased use of external laryngeal manipulation, and an increased use of alternate techniques during intubation when compared to SP.Conclusion:We conclude that compared to the simple head extension position, the SP should be used as a standard head position for intubation attempts under general anesthesia.