A Comparison of the Ease of Tracheal Intubation Using a McGrath MAC Laryngoscope and a Standard MacIntosh Laryngoscope

A Comparison of the Ease of Tracheal Intubation Using a McGrath MAC Laryngoscope and a Standard MacIntosh Laryngoscope

Videolaryngoscopes offer the potential to make tracheal intubation easier for the anaesthetist and less traumatic for the patient. This study aims to compare the intubation difficulty scores (a validated scoring system for ease of intubation) using the McGrath MAC as a videolaryngoscope, the McGrath MAC only as a direct laryngoscope (without video screen) and the MacIntosh laryngoscopes.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Elective procedure requiring oral tracheal tube intubation
• Over 16 years of age
• Airway assessment suggests to the anaesthetist that a standard MacIntosh laryngoscope approach to intubation would be appropriate.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Emergency procedure
• Less than 16 years of age
• Unable to consent
• Requiring Rapid Sequence Induction (a specialised anaesthetic induction technique)
• Predicted difficult intubation
• Not suitable for the standardised induction technique