Comparison of Insertion of the Modified i-gel Airway for Oral Surgery With the LMA Flexible: A Manikin Study

Abstract

We previously modified the i-gel airway to enable its use in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery and reported its fabrication methods. In general, the standard igel airway is quick to insert and has a high success rate, but the modified i-gel airway has yet to be assessed for these attributes. We, therefore, set out to compare the ease of insertion of the modified i-gel airway with the LMA Flexible to investigate the usefulness of the modified i-gel airway. The study participants, who included 20 new interns with no experience using either the LMA Flexible or the modified i-gel airway, inserted each device 3 times into an intubation practice manikin. The variables measured in this study were insertion time and rate of successful insertions. Mean insertion time over 3 attempts was significantly shorter for the modified i-gele airway (18.9 6 4.7 seconds) than the LMA Flexible (24.9 6 5.1 seconds, P , .001). The rate of successful insertions as a total of all 3 attempts was significantly higher for the modified i-gel airway (56/60 times, 93.3%) than the LMA Flexible (45/60 times, 75%; P ¼ .012). When used by an inexperienced operator, the modified i-gele airway is faster and has a higher success rate than the LMA Flexible, suggesting that it can be easily manipulated during insertion.