Blind Tracheal Intubation Through Supraglottic Airway Devices

Tracheal intubation is considered the gold standard for protecting the airway. As the supraglottic airway devices (SADs) could be inserted without laryngoscopy, so that SADs with different designs and safety issues could be used to manage difficult airways in anesthesia and emergency medicine with continuous patient oxygenation &ventilation, less hemodynamic stress response and less postoperative complications. These advantages encourage the use of a proper SAD as a conduit for endotracheal intubation in stressful conditions. This study will be carried out to compare the Air-QTM Blocker and LarysealTM Pro for blind tracheal intubation during elective ophthalmic surgeries under general anesthesia. Intubation through SAD can be performed using a fiber-optic bronchoscope or blindly. Blind intubation is meaning that the tube is inserted through SAD without direct visualization of the airway. Success rate of blind intubation ranges between 15% and 97%, mostly depending on the type of used SAD, patient characteristics and operator skills. The availability of blind intubation through SAD is important in cases of difficult intubation (either anticipated or unanticipated) especially if fiber-optic is not available, so that SAD will be convenient for untrained personnel.