Comparison of Laryngeal Mask Supreme® and Soft Seal® for airway management in several positions

Purpose In emergency situations, rescuers occasionally must secure the airway while the patient is in a position other than the ideal supine position. We hypothesized that the laryngeal mask airway Supreme ® (Supreme) may be useful for emergent airway management in several positions and compared the utility of the Supreme with that of the conventional Soft Seal ® (Soft Seal) device. Methods Nineteen novice doctors in our anesthesia department attempted insertion of the Supreme or Soft Seal device on a simulated manikin in the supine, left lateral decubitus (left-LT), right lateral decubitus (right-LT), prone, and sitting positions. For each device, successful ventilation attempts, mean time to secure the airway, and difficulty of use [using the visual analog scale (VAS)] were evaluated. Results The success rate of ventilation was significantly higher with the Supreme than the Soft Seal in the prone and sitting positions ( P