[Difficult for intubation in a simulator with laryngoscope with and without mirror].

Background: The mirror laryngoscope blade (Siker blade) is used often in patients with anatomical variations, because it improves the visibility of epiglottis, shortening the intubation time. The objective was to compare the degree of difficulty in intubation with Macintosh blade versus Siker blade in a simulator, among anesthesiologists and residents in training.

Methods: A comparative study in 29 medical residents in training and 21 anesthesiologists was conducted. They had three attempts of 30 seconds to perform intubation with each laryngoscope in two different stages. The time and the intubation attempt, in which a successful intubation was performed, were registered. The data were processed using Statistica software, version 6.

Results: there was no difference for intubation between anesthesiologists and residents. Siker blade required more number of attempts (normal airway p 〈 0.001, difficult airway p = 0.02) and longer time for intubation (normal airway p 〈 0.0001, difficult airway p = 0.003). With a greater proportion of anesthesiologists, 20 % of the sample failed the intubation with Siker blade.

Conclusions: It was more difficult for anesthesiologists and residents in training the use of the Siker blade in both stages, with normal or difficult airway on a simulator.