The King LT versus the Combitube: flight crew performance and preference.

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Airway Management
• Medical Devices

Background:

• Air medical personnel require effective emergency airway solutions.
• The Combitube is a widely used device for emergency and rescue airway management.
• Evaluating newer airway devices is crucial for improving pre-hospital care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the performance and user preference of the King LT laryngeal tube airway against the Combitube.
• To assess insertion times and perceived ease of use in a simulated environment.
• To inform the selection of optimal airway devices for air medical services.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-seven air medical professionals (physicians, nurses, paramedics) participated.
• Subjects received training and practiced with both the King LT and Combitube.
• Device insertion was tested on a Laerdal SimMan simulator, recording success rates and time to placement.
• Perceived ease of insertion was rated on a 5-point Likert scale.

Main Results:

• All participants successfully placed both devices.
• The King LT demonstrated a significantly faster mean placement time (24.4 seconds) compared to the Combitube (37.9 seconds).
• Participants rated the King LT as significantly easier to insert (mean score 1.3) than the Combitube (mean score 2.5).
• Twenty-six out of 27 participants (96%) preferred the King LT.

Conclusions:

• The King LT offers a significant advantage in terms of speed and ease of insertion compared to the Combitube in simulated emergency airway scenarios.
• The majority of air medical personnel preferred the King LT, suggesting potential for improved clinical practice.
• Further research using human models is recommended to validate these findings in real-world settings.