Airtraq Versus Fiberoptic for Awake Tracheal Intubation

The airway management is a vital act in anesthesia. The gold standard technique for planned very difficult intubation is nasotracheal fiberoptic intubation. The success rate with this procedure is 98.8%. However, learning this technique is difficult and it's considered uncomfortable by patients and practitioners.

The Airtraq® videolaryngoscope is commonly used for difficult orotracheal intubation. Cases of awake intubation by Airtraq® have been described.

Furthermore, the French Society of Anesthesia-Resuscitation, in its last formalized expert recommendations (2017) on difficult intubation, proposes the use of video laryngoscopes as an alternative to the fiberoptic bronchoscope.

We propose a non-inferiority study evaluating the use of Airtraq® for the realization of a awake intubation compared to the gold standard (fiberoptic bronchoscope). This prospective randomized study should include 78 patients in two groups. The purpose of this study is to improve the comfort of patient and practitioner during an awake tracheal intubation, to facilitate the learning of the technique.