Laryngeal mask airway and burned patients - abstract

ABSTRACT

During general anaesthesia of burned patients, airway control raises specific problems in patients with facial burns, when anaesthesia is required every other day and when grafts are done on the scalp. We studied 20 patients who required a total of 65 insertions of the laryngeal mask. There were no observed failures of insertion of the mask by either trained or untrained staff. Insertion of the mask is therefore easy even for untrained staff. Adequate ventilation was possible in all cases. There were no serious complications. The observed adverse effects were sore throat, gastric dilation and dislodgement of the mask. It is concluded that this type of equipment should replace endotracheal intubation or facial masks in these clinical situations (AU)