Equipment for airway management

During routine anaesthetic airway management, clearance, airway maintenance and tracheal intubation are usually easy procedures. They can occasionally be extremely difficult. A wide variety of equipment is available to assist in airway management, ranging from simple adjuncts, such as oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airways, to a plethora of supraglottic devices, specialist laryngoscopes, blades and tracheal tubes. This article highlights some key points about routinely used equipment such as the classic laryngeal mask airway (LMA), the flexible LMA, the intubating LMA and finally the ProSeal LMA. Design features, insertion techniques and practical tips regarding their use and potential complications are discussed. Brief notes concerning the range of supraglottic airway devices currently available are mentioned to increase familiarity with such devices, and recent developments are highlighted. Finally, a brief review of specialist laryngoscopes, blades and endotracheal tubes completes the article. A basic understanding of airway management has been assumed.