Uso del laringoscopio airtraq. Una alternativa a la vía aérea difícil

backgrounds: one of the main responsibilities of the anesthesiologist is to establish and to maintain a permeable airway in any clinical situation entailing its involvement. objective: to assess and to compare the efficacy and safety of endotracheal tube and the use of airtraq in the approach of a difficult airway. material and methods: a randomized, comparative and prospective study was conducted between july, 2008 and august, 2010 in patients aged over 18 with a probable difficult airway, operated on using orotracheal general anesthesia in cimeq, who were divided into two groups of 25 patients each. in a group we used airtraq and in m group we used the macintosh laryngoscope. results: intubation time in the a group was less than in the m group (18.8 ± 6.5 sec) versus (35.9 ± 20.6 sec). the success rate was of 100% in the a group versus 68 % in the m one. there were less complications in the a group (4%) versus 32% in the m group. values of mean arterial pressure and the heart rate during intubation and at three minutes after it were less in the a group, with statistically significant differences. conclusions: airtraq is safe and effective in the approach of above mentioned difficult airway.