GlideScope Videolaryngoscopy in the Simulated Difficult Airway: Bougie vs Standard Stylet

GlideScope(®) videolaryngoscopy (GVL) has been shown to improve visualization of the glottis compared to direct laryngoscopy (DL). However, due to the angle of approach to the glottis, intubation can still be challenging. We hypothesized that novice GVL users would be able to intubate faster and easier using an airway introducer (frequently known as a bougie) than with a standard intubating stylet.

Intubations were performed on a human airway simulator with settings for easy and difficult airways. Participants were emergency medicine (EM) residents or faculty (n=21) who were novice GVL users. Participants were intubated a total of eight times (four GVL, four DL) using either a bougie or an intubating stylet. We recorded time to intubate (TTI) and difficulty rating using a visual analog scale (VAS) and non-parametric statistical methods for analysis. We reported medians with interquartile range (IQR).

The median TTI with difficult airway settings and the bougie-GVL was 76 seconds (IQR 50, 102) versus 64 seconds (IQR 50.5, 125), p=0.76 for the stylet-GVL combination. The median VAS difficulty score, on difficult airway settings, for the bougie-GVL was 5 cm (IQR 3.3, 8.0) versus 6.2 cm (IQR 5.0, 7.5) with the stylet-GVL, p=0.53.

Among novices using GVL for simulated difficult airway management, there was no benefit, in terms of speed or ease of intubation, by using the bougie over the standard stylet.