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Background Orogastric tube placement is a common procedure routinely used in clinical anesthesiology and intensive care medicine. Nevertheless high failure rates and severe complications have been reported. We conducted this study to evaluate if the usage of the new gastric tube guide would speed up the placement of orogastric tubes and ease the procedure. Methods Thirty one professionals were given a hands-on-training in orogastric tube placement in a simulation manikin without and with the gastric tube guide. Afterwards they performed both methods in randomized order. We recorded the placement time, counted the required attempts and asked the participants to rate their experience with both methods. Results The median placement time using the gastric tube guide was 14 s compared to 25 s without the device. In addition all participants were able to place the orogastric tube when using the gastric tube guide compared to 26/31 (84%) without it. Furthermore 26/31 (84%) users preferred the gastric tube guide over the standard method. Conclusion Our results show that using the gastric tube guide to place orogastric tubes in a manikin led to a significant shorter placement time and a higher overall success rate.

Background Recent case reports have indicated significant cuff overinflation when using the standard filling volume based on the manufacturer’s recommendations in older models of laryngeal tubes. The aim of this study was to determine the minimum cuff pressure needed to perform standardized ventilation without leakage in the new, revised model of the laryngeal tube “LTS-D”. Methods After ethical approval, LTS-D was placed for ventilation in 60 anesthetized patients. The cuff was inflated to the recommended volume (#3: 60 ml, #4: 80 ml, and #5: 90 ml). After evaluation of the initial cuff pressure (CP), the CP was lowered in 10 cmH2O steps until a minimal cuff pressure of 30 cmH2O was achieved. The absence of an audible leak was required for a step-by-step reduction in the CP. Evacuated cuff volume, success rate, and airway injuries were documented. Data were expressed as medians (interquartile ranges [IQRs]). The comparison of CPs and cuff volumes was performed using the Mann-Whitney test. Results After initial inflation, the CP ranged from 105 cmH2O [90–120; #5] to 120 cmH2O [110–120; #3]. Lowering the CP to 60 cmH2O resulted in a reduced cuff volume ranging from 47 ml [44–54; #3] to 77 ml [75–82; #5] compared to the initial inflation (p