The 4th National Audit Project of the UK Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Difficult Airway Society, ‘Major complications of airway management in the UK’, is already being seen as a seminal report.

The findings provide an ideal opportunity for the review and revision of airway strategy at a local and national UK level, yet the data it contains is likely to have a broader appeal, since many of the themes and issues discussed have international relevance.

In Chapter 11, the report highlights the potential design advantages of second-generation supraglottic airways and includes specific recommendations related to their use. This includes the recommendation that ‘…all hospitals have second-generation SADs available for both routine use and rescue airway management’.¹

The i-gel is a second-generation supraglottic airway with a gastric channel² to provide an early warning of regurgitation, an integral bite block to reduce the possibility of airway occlusion and a buccal cavity stabilizer to aid easy insertion and eliminate the potential for rotation.

With its unique, soft, non-inflatable cuff, valuable time is not wasted deflating and inflating a cuff. This allows a patent airway to be established in the quickest possible time. In many cases, insertion can be achieved in less than five seconds.³

With NAP4 highlighting the potential benefits of second-generation supraglottic airways, if you haven’t yet had the opportunity to evaluate i-gel, why not contact us for a sample to try.

References

¹ 4th National Audit Project of The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Difficult Airway Society. Major complications of airway management in the UK. Report and findings. March 2011.² Except size 1³ Bamgbade OA, Macnab WR, Khalaf WM: Evaluation of the i-gel airway in 300 patients. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2008 Oct;25(10):865-6.