Background: Intubation is one of the most commonly done procedures in a hospital. Endotracheal intubation is the gold standard for securing airway. Direct laryngoscopy (DL) using Macintosh laryngoscope (MCL) has long been in use as a conduit for intubation. I-gel a second generation airway has been designed to conduct intubation, which reduces the pressure response and also eliminates the disadvantages of the LMA such as aspiration of gastric contents, compression of vascular structures, trauma and nerve injury. One of the most important advantages of the I-gel is it’s ability to maintain oxygenation and ventilation during periods of apnea at the time of intubation.
Aim: The present study has been undertaken with an aim to evaluate and compare the intubation time and success rate of direct laryngoscopy and I-gel guided method for endotracheal intubation.
Material and Methods: In this comparative study, 80 patients of ASA grade I and II, aged 20-60 years undergoing elective surgeries under general anesthesia were included and divided into two groups – A DL and B- I-gel as a conduit for endotracheal intubation.
Result: The mean total intubation time was 18\(\pm\)1 seconds for direct laryngoscopy method and 26\(\pm\)5 seconds for I-gel guided method (p<0.05).Although the total number of attempts required in group A were 43 as compared to 47 in group B ,the difference was statistically insignificant (P=0.38).The changes in mean HR and mean MAP from baseline were less in group B in comparison to group A (p<0.05). The incidence of postoperative sore throat and hoarseness were also found to be less in group B as compared to Group A (p<0.05).
Conclusion: I-gel guided intubation can be an effective alternative to the conventional DL method as it offers more hemodynamic stability and less post operative adverse events.
