A chin-lift mask produces a patent airway more effectively than an oropharyngeal airway using the EC-clamp technique in obese patients.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficiency of ventilation using a novel chin-lift mask compared with an oropharyngeal airway (OPA) with EC-clamp technique in obese patients.

METHODS

Obese patients scheduled for cholecystectomy under general anaesthesia were divided into two groups: the OPA group, in which a standard mask and OPA with the EC-clamp technique were used; the CL group, in which the chin-lift mask was used. Respiratory data were compared.

RESULTS

One hundred patients were recruited and assigned to the OPA (n = 50) and CL (n = 50) groups. Compared with the OPA group, expired tidal volume, peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), tidal volume/peak inspiratory pressure ratio and end-tidal carbon dioxide were higher, and the peak and mean inspiratory pressures were lower, in the CL group. In the CL group, no patient had an SpO2 ≤ 95% and the lowest SpO2 was 99%, whereas in the OPA group, 23 patients had an SpO2 ≤ 95% and the lowest SpO2 was 92%. Difficult mask ventilation occurred in eight patients in the OPA group but in none in the CL group.

CONCLUSION

The chin-lift mask provided a patent airway and better quality mask ventilation than an OPA with EC-clamp technique in obese patients.