Comparing the Laryngoscopy View Using Miller and Macintosh Laryngoscopy Blades in Infants Under Two Years of Age
Comparing the Laryngoscopy View Using Miller and Macintosh Laryngoscopy Blades in Infants Under Two Years of Age
To compare the laryngoscopy view using two standard clinical devices, the Macintosh and Miller laryngoscopy blades, in infants between one day and two years of age.
Miller blades (straight blades) are more commonly used than MacIntosh blades (curved) in pediatric clinical practice in some institutions especially in infants. The anatomy of infant airway has traditionally been considered to lend itself to advantages of the Miller blade. Some argue that the Miller blade offers a superior view of the laryngeal inlet because it lifts the epiglottis. However, others use the Miller blade to expose the larynx without lifting the epiglottis, supposedly to avoid traumatizing it. Despite the long-standing use of these blades, more than 50 years, no systematic study has ever compared the laryngoscopy views of the Miller and Macintosh blades in infants.
The primary hypothesis of this study is to compare the view of the larynx with Miller blade while lifting the epiglottis to the Macintosh blade lifting the tongue, in infants and children <2 years of age. However, views will be obtained with the Miller and Macintosh blades both lifting and not lifting the epiglottis and comparisons between pairs of measurements will be performed. In order for to detect superiority of one technique over the other, we will need a difference in the POGO scores of 25 points with a standard deviation of 25 points, yielding a sample size of 15 children in each group. To account for photographic difficulties, unreadable photos as well as dropouts, we will enroll 25 children in each group. Therefore a total of 50 children will be enrolled.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: