Anatomical investigations on the upper airway in premature and newborn babies.

Safe intubation of newborns remains a challenge. This investigates the upper airway anatomy of (pre-)term infants was investigated to improve airway management and the development of airway devices. Angles and diameters of both oral and nasal intubation pathways of 22 cadavers of premature and term stillborn infants were measured, relative to their gestational age (GA) and tested for statistical significance.

Anatomic accuracy, physiologic characteristics, and fidelity of very low birth weight infant airway simulators.

Background: Medical simulation training requires realistic simulators with high fidelity. This prospective multi-center study investigated anatomic precision, physiologic characteristics, and fidelity of four commercially available very low birth weight infant simulators.

Methods: We measured airway angles and distances in the simulators Premature AirwayPaul (SIMCharacters), Premature Anne (Laerdal Medical), Premie HAL S2209 (Gaumard), and Preterm Baby (Lifecast Body Simulation) using computer tomography and compared these to human cadavers of premature stillbirths.