“Mouth to mouth ventilation”: A comparison of the laryngeal mask airway with the Laerdal Pocket Facemask

Ten nurses with basic airway management experience were formally trained to use a classic laryngeal mask airway (LMA) and a Laerdal Pocket Facemask (LPFM) for oxygen enriched expired air ventilation (EEAV). They then used both of these devices for EEAV in a randomised fashion in 100 anaesthetised ASA I/II patients for elective surgery. EEAV was considered successful if the patient's arterial oxygen saturation was maintained above 93% on room air for 3 min. EEAV success rates for the LMA and LPFM were 95% and 51% respectively (P = 0.03). There was no apparent learning curve for either apparatus. Mean time in seconds (s) for first successful ventilation from picking up the apparatus was 26.8 s and 15.1 s, for the LMA and LPFM respectively (P < 0.005). Although the LMA took significantly longer time to insert, it proved to be more successful and easier to use than the LPFM for EEAV.