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Repeat autoclaving does not remove protein deposits from the classic laryngeal mask airway
L Bannon1, J Brimacombe, T Nixon
1Cairns Base Hospital, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Australia.
Introduction:
We tested the hypothesis that repeated autoclaving removes protein deposits from the classic laryngeal mask airway (LMA).
Methods:
Twenty previously used LMAs were hand washed, machine washed, dried, autoclaved and randomly allocated into four equal-sized groups for repeat autoclaving on 0 (control), 1, 2 and 3 occasions. After the final autoclave cycle, the LMAs were immersed in a protein-staining solution, rinsed, dried and a high-resolution digital image taken of the dorsal and ventral surfaces. The severity of staining was scored by two blinded observers.
Results:
All LMAs were stained. There was no reduction in staining with repeat autoclaving.
Conclusions:
Repeat autoclaving does not remove protein deposits from the LMA.
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