Teaching Airway Management on Anaesthetised Patients

In order to assess the availability of appropriate resources for a programme of in-theatre teaching of airway skills using anaesthetised patients, two surveys of airway management on anaesthetised patients with identification of those suitable for teaching airway care; and a questionnaire to senior anaesthetists assessing attitudes to such teaching were performed.

The results demonstrated that, of all patients undergoing general anaesthesia 45% were intubated and of these 29% were regarded as suitable for teaching intubation. The introduction of the Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) into clinical practice has reduced the number of patients having their airways maintained by either bag and mask or tracheal intubation, with implications for learning those skills. In our survey 16% had a Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) placed for airway securement and of these 29% would have been intubated had the LMA not been available. Finally, amongst anaesthetists in our survey there is a wide variety of attitudes to teaching airway skills using anaesthetised patients.