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The following is a summary of “A prospective crossover study comparing six current generation supraglottic airway device’s ability to seal during CPR in human cadavers,” published in the August 2024 issue of Emergency Medicine by Holley et al.
Supraglottic airway (SGA) devices were used during CPR, but their effectiveness in consistently sealing the airway during the procedure remained unclear.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study comparing intrathoracic pressures generated during automated CPR (aCPR) with an Impedance Threshold Device (ITD, ZollTM) using 6 available SGAs against a standard endotracheal tube (ETT). They hypothesized the ability of current SGAs to develop intrathoracic pressures would differ from that of the ETT.
They measured airway pressures (AP) and negative intrathoracic pressures (ITP) in 6 deceased human cadavers with varying body habitus. After ETT and 6 different SGAs were placed, airway and intrathoracic pressures were assessed during automated CPR and manual positive pressure ventilation using a bag valve mask (BVM). The ETT placed first served as the control for the airway seal, followed by each SGA. The outcome was compared to airway and ITP in all groups.
The results showed SGAs variability in their ability to create negative airway pressure and ITP.
They concluded that the ability to generate negative intrathoracic pressure varied among different SGAs during automated CPR with an ITD in the human cadaver model.
Source: jem-journal.com/article/S0736-4679(24)00266-X/abstract