Comparison of the clinical performances of Air-Qsp and i-Gel for airway management under general anesthesia with a muscle relaxant.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Recently, i-Gel intubating laryngeal airway (ILA) has been frequently used because of the ease for airway insertion by residents and young anesthesiologists. However, it sometimes fails to fit or ventilate sufficiently in Japanese patients. Use of Air-Qsp, which is a new non-inflatable cuffed ILA, in a clinical setting has become possible. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical performance of Air-Qsp with that of i-Gel for airway management in Japanese adult patients. DESIGN: A randomized, single-blinded, prospective study was conducted after approval from the institutional review board. SETTING: Operating rooms at hospitals. PATIENTS: Thirty-seven adult patients aged 20 to 69 years, with ASA physical status I or II, and scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia in the supine position. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned to insertion with Air-Qsp (Group A: n=20) or i-Gel (Group I: n=17). MEASUREMENTS: The number of insertions, duration of insertion, changes in systolic blood pressure and heart rate during insertion, delivered tidal volume for setting volume control ventilation, distribution of the tips of the bronchofiberscopes (BFs) on a clock face, and the number of postoperative complications was evaluated. MAIN RESULTS: Two patients in Group A and one patient in Group I were excluded because insertion of the device failed. There were no significant differences in measured parameters between the 2 groups. The distribution of the tips of the bronchofiberscopes tended to be around the center of the glottis in Group A, whereas they were more toward the 6-o'clock position in Group I. CONCLUSIONS: Air-Qsp is as useful as i-Gel in Japanese patients and the distributions of the tips of BFs through ILAs are different for Air-Qsp and i-Gel.