CRICOID PRESSURE MAY PREVENT INSERTION OF THE LARYNGEAL MASK AIRWAY

We have studied 42 female patients undergoing elective day-case surgery allocated randomly to two groups. After induction of anaesthesia an attempt was made to insert a laryngeal mask airway after application of cricoid pressure in one group or with no cricoid pressure in the other. The anaesthetist was unaware of the application, or not, of cricoid pressure. Successful insertion was achieved at the first or second attempt in 19 of the 22 patients in the non-cricoidpressure group, but in only three of the 20 patients in the cricoid pressure group (X2 18.62, P