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J. D'Urbano

GlideScope Video Laryngoscope - It Makes a WORLD of Difference

First, and foremost, let me start off my saying I'm not a sales person of any kind. I am, however, an avid fan of airway management, as many of us are, so I thought I'd share with you my recent experiences with the GlideScope Video Laryngoscope.

I've been intubating patients for the better part of 15 years now. At my current place of employment my team performs approximately 2 thirds or more of the intubations that take place in the hospital (with the exception of the operating rooms. For the most part that is Anesthesia's world, although they are often very helpful while we're training our new team members).

Recently our Director was able to purchase a GlideScope to add to our difficult airway arsenal. Anyone who intubates knows that difficult airways happen and being prepared will make all the difference in the world. We had a few quick inservices, the necessary check-offs, and then began practicing with it on Fred. (Fred is our intubation training specialist. Well, he's actually a manikin that my partners and I named "Fredrick Lawrence Flintstone". We even introduced him to the HR staff and they made him a badge for us, but that's a story in itself...). I can't begin to tell you how much easier this device makes any intubation on Fred. Then one day it happened. A real patient.

Although this wasn't a difficult airway case I thought I would take this opportunity and try it out on a real patient who needed to be intubated in our ICU one afternoon. After the patient was properly and adequately sedated by the nursing staff (at the Physicians request of course) I went to work. The GlideScope laryngoscope was inserted carefully centerline as recomended. With almost no upward pressure the epiglottis was right in front of me in a flat second. A little forward manipulation and there were the vocal cords. I take my eyes off the monitor to carefully insert the tube, then look back at the monitor. There's the tube. With an easy adjustment of the tube and the provided rigid stylette the intubation was safely completed in a matter of seconds, and I didn't even break a sweat.

If any of you have an opportunity to get this device, or one like it, I highly recommend it. If there is one caution I could give you about its use it would be this. Please don't use it so much that you start to lose the skill of intubation by direct laryngoscopy. What I am doing for all non-complicated intubations is 2 out of 3 intubations are by manual direct laryngoscopy while the 3rd is by GlideScope video laryngoscopy. This keeps me in practice with both methods on a regular basis so when the time comes I will be ready to safely intubate wichever way best and safest for my patient...

J. D'Urbano...


Views: 51

Tags: GlideScope, cords, epiglottis, intubation, laryngoscopy, laryngscope, vocal

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HEIDI I LOZANO Comment by HEIDI I LOZANO on April 22, 2010 at 8:54pm
Glidescope its beneficial for difficult intubation most here arabs country most of the patients has big built that difficult to see the trachea, so in that glidescope less trauma and makes intubation procedure easy, and i agree that it is also a good teaching equipment.
Yann Lavoie Comment by Yann Lavoie on March 13, 2010 at 5:02pm
I love the Glidscope, used it on a few occasions for traumas and difficult airways, makes intubation so much easier, and is also a great teaching tool.

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