Baby cuff as a reason for laryngeal mask airway cuff malfunction during airway management for anesthesia

Abstract

Placement of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) is a blind procedure without requiring laryngoscopy. The reported success rate for LMA insertion at the first attempt is almost 95%; however, many functioning LMAs may not be in an ideal anatomic place. It seems that disposable LMAs have more stable cuff pressure compared to reusable LMAs; therefore, Anesthesiologists should bear in mind this fact when using reusable LMAs to achieve a proper sealing and safe airway management. In this report, we introduced a case with malfunction of LMA cuff during the airway management.

Postoperative pulmonary complications in older patients undergoing elective surgery with a supraglottic airway device or tracheal intubation

“…Tracheal tubes are also more likely to cause airway spasm, airway trauma, vocal cord paralysis and/or laryngeal oedema [13,14]. Supraglottic airway devices are more comfortable for patients and are therefore included in various enhanced recovery pathways [15,16]. However, SADs are less secure than tracheal tubes, less effective at preventing aspiration of gastric contents and may leak at relatively low airway pressures [17][18][19][20].…”