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The beauty and the beast – a tale of the laryngeal tube and related potentially life threatening operational faults

2014; Elsevier BV; Volume: 85; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.resuscitation.2014.09.006

1873-1570

Peter Paal, A. Timmermann,

Emergency and Acute Care Studies

In the previous issue Schalk and coworkers 1 Schalk R. Seeger F.H. Mutlak H. et al. Complications associated with the prehospital use of laryngeal tubes – a systematic analysis of risk factors and strategies for prevention. Resuscitation. 2014; 85: 1629-1632 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar present a prospective single-centre study involving rescue services in Frankfurt, Germany, where they evaluated complications related to the pre-hospital use of the laryngeal tube (LT). The authors are to be congratulated for analysing not only the positive effects of the LT but also to report the down-sides of this airway device. They analysed their 6-year experience with pre-hospital LT use (n = 189) and searched data for risk factors leading to complications and they proposed prevention strategies. All patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) with a LT in place were evaluated on a 24/7 basis. In overall, 98 clinically relevant serious complications in 189 patients were reported, thus in this cohort the likelihood of suffering a serious LT-related complication for a given patient was a staggering 52%.