Nr. Connelly et al., Comparison of wire reinforced tubes with warmed standard tubes to facilitate fiberoptic intubation, J CLIN ANES, 13(1), 2001, pp. 3-5
Study Objective: To compare the ease of insertion of a warmed standard trac
heal tube to that of a wire reinforced tracheal tube when placed over a fle
xible fiberoptic bronchoscope.
Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Setting: Tertiary, care hospital,
Patients: 50 patients undergoing elective general anesthesia.
Interventions: Patients' tracheas were intubated with a flexible fiberoptic
bronchoscope and had either a standard or wire-reinforced tracheal tube in
serted. If resistance was met, the tube was withdrawn, rotated, and readvan
ced. This was, repeated two times. If unsuccessful, the flexible fiberoptic
bronchoscope was removed, and intubation was attempted with the other type
Of tracheal tube.
Measurements: The ability to advance the tracheal tube was determined.
Main Results: There were no demographic differences between the two groups.
There was a similar ease of advancement of the two tracheal tubes.
Conclusions: When performing effective flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy for
intubation, we recommend using the less expensive warmed standard tracheal
tube. (C) 2001 by Elsevier Science Inc.