BODY POSTURE DURING SIMULATED TRACHEAL INTUBATION

Seventeen experienced anaesthetists and 15 novices were filmed intubat ing the trachea of a training manikin. Measurements were made of the d istance from manikin's chin to subject's nose and of the angles at the elbow, the shoulder and of the forearm with the horizontal. Trained s ubjects stood further back (trained: median 43 cm, interquartile range 41-56 cm; novices 35 cm, 26-38 cm; Mann-Whitney U, p < 0.01), with a straighter arm (trained elbow angle: 108 degrees, 99-121 degrees; novi ces': 92 degrees, 88-102 degrees; Mann-Whitney U, p < 0.01). Trained s ubjects tended to hold the laryngoscope closer to the hinge, with a pi ncer grip; novices were more likely to use a full grip of the handle. Trainers should consider giving novices explicit intructions on how to stand and how to hold the laryngoscope.