Search

Background: Anesthesia accounts for the initial step of any surgery; with different means of establishing a secured airway. Amongst the various devices used for endotracheal intubation (EI), the McCoy (MC) laryngoscope which was used more commonly, was compared with the Airtraq (AT) laryngoscope, which has been developed for use in patients with normal or difficult airways for Comparing the POGO scoring in two groups using McCoy and Airtraq laryngoscope and comparison of hemodynamic changes observed by using both the laryngoscopes. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in a teaching hospital, in Aligarh from January to March 2012; on a sample of 50 patients, randomly divided into two groups of 25 patients each using chit-in-a-box technique. Observations: The male: female ratio was 0.8:1. The mean ± SD age in the AT group was 36.76 ± 9.09 years and in the MC group was 38.48+15.19 years. The POGO scoring of the patients using Airtraq laryngoscope was better than that of McCoy laryngoscope. The fluctuations in heart rate were more evident in the McCoy group as compared to the Airtraq within the first few seconds and this was found to be highly statistically significant (p<0.001). The fluctuations in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) was more pronounced in the MC group as compared to the AT group in the first (1sec) and third second (3secs) readings which was also found to statistically highly significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: Airtraq might be a better device for EI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]