A left-side channel design improving insertion of gastric tube via the supraglottic airway device

Abstract

Anesthesia was induced with fentanyl 3 mg/kg, propofol To the Editor: The supraglottic airway device (SAD) with an additional gastric drainage channel may be beneficial for 2 mg/kg, and atracurium 0.8 mg/kg. The patient’s head patients needing gastric decompression during surgery, such as laparoscopic cholecystectomy and cesarean delivery. Furthermore, addition of gastric drainage channel is a typical feature of second-generation SAD. However, all of second-generation SADs have a gastric tube channel opening at the center of the distal tip. Such a design may cause some difficulty for insertion of the gastric tube if there is an inadequate position of the device tip in the upper esophageal aperture. In normal anatomy, the upper esophageal aperture is actually inclined to the left side of the trachea. Thus, we inferred that it should bemuch easier to insert a gastric tube into the esophagus, if the gastric drainage channel is placed at the left side of the SAD tip. To test this hypothesis, this pilot randomized controlled study was designed to assess the performances of gastric tube insertion via themodifiedOro-Pharyngo-Laryngeal Airway Cap (OPLAC) (Xu Bang Corporation, Taiwan, China) by comparingwith the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) Supreme (Teleflex Medical, Dublin Road, Athlone, Ireland) in the anesthetized adult patients by an experienced operator.