A randomised trial comparing the laryngeal mask airway Supreme^™ with the laryngeal mask airway Unique^™ in children*

Abstract

SummaryWe conducted a randomised controlled trial comparing the laryngeal mask airway Supreme TM with the laryngeal mask airway Unique TM in children. Fifty children presenting for elective surgery were randomly assigned to receive either the laryngeal mask airway Supreme or laryngeal mask airway Unique. The outcomes measured were airway leak pressure, ease and time for insertion, insertion success rate, fibreoptic examination, incidence of gastric insufflation, ease of gastric tube placement through the laryngeal mask airway Supreme, quality of airway during anaesthetic maintenance and complications. Median (IQR [range]) time to successful device placement was shorter with the laryngeal mask airway Unique, 14.5 [13.5-16.3 (10.0-23.6)] s than with the laryngeal mask airway Supreme,

A randomised comparison of the Ambu® AuraGain™ and the LMA® supreme in infants and children

“…The initial airway leak pressures in this study for the AuraGain are similar to previous studies with the LMA Supreme [1,5,6,12], but slightly lower than the reported airway leak pressures of the LMA ProSeal [2,13] and i-gel [14][15][16] in children. The slight increase in airway leak pressures at 10 min in this study is suggestive that the airway sealing characteristics remain relatively stable during the initial phase of anaesthetic maintenance.…”

“…In addition, gastric tube passage was straightforward and deemed to be easy with the Aura Gain. The speed of insertion and insertion success rates of gastric tube placement are similar to our previous studies on the LMA Supreme [5,6,8,19]. Of note, the size 1.5 AuraGain allows for the use of a larger sized gastric tube than the size 1.5 Supreme (8 Fr vs 6 Fr), which could be advantageous for the evacuation of gastric contents.…”

“…The ease of gastric tube placement was assessed and graded on a subjective scale (1 = easy, 2 = difficult, 3 = unable to pass) [6]. The time for successful gastric tube placement was measured (insertion of the gastric tube into the gastric drain port of the device until audible insufflation of air into the stomach by epigastric auscultation).…”

“…The ease of placement was assessed using a subjective scale of 1-4 (1 = no resistance, 2 = moderate resistance, 3 = high resistance, 4 = inability to place the device) [6].…”

“…We have previously shown the LMA â Supreme * (Teleflex Inc., Triangle Park, NC, USA) as being a viable SAD in children for airway maintenance, including mechanical ventilation [5], and compared its performance with various SADs [6][7][8]. Like the LMA Supreme, the Ambu â AuraGain TM (Ambu, Ballerup, Denmark) is a cuffed supraglottic airway that is curved, and has a built-in gastric port (Fig.…”