Effects of head positions on awake fiberoptic bronchoscope oral intubation: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Abstract Background There are many factors affecting the success rate of awake orotracheal intubation via fiberoptic bronchoscope. We performed this study was to investigate the effects of head positions on awake Fiberoptic bronchoscope oral intubation. Methods Seventy-five adult patients, received general anaesthesia were included in this study. After written informed consent, these patients were undergoing awake orotracheal intubation via fiberoptic-bronchoscope and according to the head position, the patients were randomized allocated to neutral position group (NP group), sniffing position group (SP group) or extension position group (EP group). After sedation the patients were intubated by an experienced anesthesiologist. The time to view the vocal cords, the percentage of glottic opening scores (POGO), the time to insert the tracheal tube into trachea and the visual analog scale (VAS) scores for ease experienced of passing the tracheal tube through glottis, the hemodynamic changes and the adverse events after surgery were recorded. Results The time to view the vocal cords was significantly shorter and the POGO scores was significantly higher in the EP group compared with the other two groups (P 0.05). There were also no significant differences regard to the incidence of postoperative complications, mean arterial pressure and heart rate among the groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions The head at extension position had a best view of glottic opening than neutral position or sniffing position during awake Fiberoptic bronchoscope oral intubation, so extension position was recommended as the starting head position for awake Fiberoptic bronchoscope oral intubation. Trial registration Clinical Trials.gov. no. NCT02792855. Registered at https://register.clinicaltrials.gov on 23 september 2017.

Keywords

• Awake orotracheal intubation
• Fiberoptic-bronchoscope
• Head positions