THE EFFICACY OF THE BURP MANEUVER DURING A DIFFICULT LARYNGOSCOPY

The displacement of the larynx in the three specific directions (a) po steriorly against the cervical vertebrae, (b) superiorly as possible, and (c) slightly laterally to the right have been reported and named t he ''BURP'' maneuver. We evaluated the efficacy of the BURP maneuver i n improving visualization of the larynx. Six hundred thirty patients w ithout obvious malformation of the head and neck participated in this study. We divided the degree of visualization of the larynx using lary ngoscopy into five grades and compared the visualization of the larynx using the BURP maneuver with that of laryngoscopy with and without si mple laryngeal pressure (''Back''). The maneuver of Back and BURP sign ificantly improved the laryngoscopic visualization from initial inspec tion. The BURP maneuver also significantly improved the visualization compared with the Back maneuver. We concluded that the BURP maneuver i mproved the visualization of the larynx more easily than simple back p ressure on the larynx.