“COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF EASE OF OROTRACHEAL INTUBATION USING C-MAC® VIDEO LARYNGOSCOPE VERSUS McGRATH®MAC VIDEO LARYNGOSCOPE IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING ELECTIVE SURGERIESâ€A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED STUDY

Airway management is one of the most important skills in the field of anaesthesiology.Endotracheal intubation with the help of Macintosh laryngoscope is a gold standard for definitive airway management in patients undergoing surgery requiring general anesthesia.In recent years, video laryngoscopes have gained in popularity. Video laryngoscopy-assisted tracheal intubation has extensively been applied in airway management because of several significant advantages. These include:(1) improved laryngeal visualization without the need for aligning three axes (oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal axes) especially in difficult airway conditions. (2) The high-quality, magnified airway image makes it easy to identify the airway anatomical structures and anomalies, and facilitates manipulation of airway devices. (3) The entire team can see laryngoscopy and intubation process on the monitor, rather than only the intubator. The multi-person visualization feature can facilitate communication and cohesion of team, improve coordination between intubator and assistant.    Non-handle mounted video laryngoscope, that is, C-MAC® video laryngoscope was developed and manufactured by the Karl Storz GmbH & Co. KG (Tuttlingen, Germany) in 1999. Handle mounted video laryngoscope, that is, McGRATH® MAC (Aircraft Medical Edinburgh, Scotland) is a novel, self-contained video laryngoscope, containing a sterile, transparent, single-use blade. The video laryngoscope was originally designed as a device to manage difficult intubation with direct laryngoscopy. Success with the application of any device can be enhanced as experience with the intervention accumulates. If video laryngoscopy is used for all patients, experience and skill would undoubtedly increase, the number of intubation attempts and complications of multiple attempts would decrease, and patient care would improve. It has been suggested that optimal video laryngoscope should be offered to all patients without significant limitations and not restricted to only those considered most difficult.As video laryngoscopes are introduced into clinical practice, it is important to evaluate their clinical performance and safety to establish superiority or equivalence to already existing devices.There are few published studies with regard to comparison of C-MAC® video laryngoscope (non-handle mounted video laryngoscope) and McGRATH® MAC video laryngoscope (handle mounted video laryngoscope) around the world but no such study has been conducted in India.Hence, this study is planned to be conducted in a prospective, randomized manner to compare C-MAC® video laryngoscope and McGRATH® MAC video laryngoscope for their use in patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia in adult Indian population.