Comparison of the glottic view during intubation using Airtraq and Macintosh laryngoscopes in adult patients undergoing surgeries under general anesthesia with a simulated cervical spine immobilization: A 1-year hospital-based randomized controlled trial

Background and Objectives: The present study was undertaken to compare the glottic view during intubation using Airtraq and Macintosh laryngoscopes in adult patients undergoing surgeries under general anesthesia with a simulated cervical spine immobilization. Methods: This 1-year randomized clinical study was conducted between January 2015 and December 2015 on 60 American Society of Anesthesiologists Grade I and II patients of either gender, aged between 18 and 60 years. The study population was randomly divided into two groups. Group A (n = 30): intubation performed using Airtraq laryngoscope. Group L (n = 30): intubation performed using Macintosh laryngoscope. Results: In the present study, 76.67% of patients in Group A had a Cormack-Lehane Grade 1 view of glottis compared to 13.33% in Group L. While most of the patients (56.67%) in Group L had Cormack-Lehane Grade 2 view of glottis compared to 23.33% in patients of Group A. Thus, Airtraq laryngoscope had better Cormack-Lehane grade of glottic view with P = 0.001. It was observed in our study that the mean heart rate, mean systolic blood pressure, mean diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure were higher in Group L compared to Group A at 1 min, 3 min, and 5 min intervals. Conclusion: These findings suggest that tracheal intubation with Airtraq offers better view of glottis with minimal changes in hemodynamic parameters in patients with a simulated cervical spine immobilization compared to Macintosh laryngoscope