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Objective: The angle of the C-MAC D-Blade® videolaryngoscope, which is used for difficult airway interventions, is not compatible with routinely used endotracheal tubes. Methods: A prospective randomized crossover study was performed comparing five intubation methods for use with standardized airways, including using different stylets or no stylet: Group HS, hockey-stick stylet; Group DS, D-blade type stylet; Group CS, CoPilot® videolaryngoscope rigid stylet®; Group GEB, gum elastic bougie; and Group NS, no stylet. A manikin was used to simulate difficult intubation with a Storz C-MAC D-Blade® videolaryngoscope. The duration of each intubation stage was evaluated. Results: Participants in this study (33 anesthesiology residents and 20 anesthesiology experts) completed a total of 265 intubations. The number of attempts made using no stylet was significantly greater than those made for the other groups (p

Topical anesthesia is increasingly being used for cataract surgery. However, it is believed that topical anesthesia causes an increased risk of intraoperative complications from unrestricted eye movement and insufficient pain control and more need for sedation. It is difficult to compare pain and anxiety experienced by individual patients; therefore, the authors used the method of patient-controlled sedation to determine whether there is a difference in sedation requirements under topical or retrobulbar anesthesia.In this prospective study, patients received either topical anesthesia (n=87) or retrobulbar block (n=104) and self-administered a mixture of midazolam (0.5 mg) and fentanyl (25 g) in increments using a patient controlled analgesia infuser to achieve sedation. At the end of surgery, patients rated their pain on a 10-point numerical rating scale and their comfort on a 5-point scale. The number of demands and deliveries were noted from the patient controlled analgesia infuser display.Pain scores were between 0 and 2 in 95.4% in the topical and in 94.2% in the retrobulbar group (p0.05). Patient comfort was equal in both groups with 2.94 0.92 in the topical group and 2.92 0.99 in the retrobulbar group (p0.05). Mean sedation requirements were similar in both groups: 26.4% of patients in the topical group and 19.2% in the retrobulbar group did not request any sedation (not significant, p0.05).Sedation requirements were similar for cataract surgery under topical and retrobulbar anesthesia. (Eur J Ophthalmol 2004; 14: #-7).