Difficult airway management patterns among attending anaesthetists practising in Israel

In recent years, a large number of airway devices have been introduced into clinical practice as adjuncts to the management of the difficult airway. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the practices of Israeli anaesthetists in specific clinical situations and their familiarity with the use of a variety of airway devices and techniques.

A survey developed in our institution was sent to 300 attending anaesthetists representing all board-certified anaesthetists practising in Israel.

Of the 153 respondents, 75% belonged to university hospitals. Ninety-six percent were skilled with laryngeal mask airways and 73% with fibreoptics. Seventy percent preferred regional anaesthesia with anticipated difficult intubation, continuation of anaesthesia with a laryngeal mask with failed intubation and a laryngeal mask for impossible mask ventilation. For the airway scenarios, awake fibreoptic, awake direct laryngoscopy, intubation under inhalation anaesthesia and tracheostomy were shared equally.

There is a high degree of adherence by Israeli anaesthetists to the American Society of Anesthesiologists' difficult airway algorithm. Current airway management practice patterns in Israel are presented.