Comparison of intubation performance between the King Vision and Macintosh laryngoscopes in novice personnel: a...

The King Vision laryngoscope is a newly developed video laryngoscope. We conducted a simulation study to evaluate the efficacy of the King Vision in novice personnel.

Thirty-one registered nurses with no previous experience with tracheal intubation were enrolled. Participants made 6 consecutive attempts at intubation of the manikin's trachea with a Macintosh laryngoscope (MAC) and the King Vision with channeled blade (KVC) and non-channeled blade (KVNC) in a randomized cross-over fashion. The Grading Scale of Intubation Difficulty (GSID) was rated on a 5-point scale.

Overall median (range) intubation times (sec) were 16.9 (8.0-60.0) with the MAC, 20.5 (7.2-60.0) with the KVC, and 60.0 (11.0-60.0) with the KVNC. The KVNC required significantly longer intubation time compared with the MAC or the KVC (p < 0.001). Success rate with the KVNC was 47.3 %, which was significantly inferior to that with the MAC (91.4 %) or KVC (86.6 %). Median GSID was 2 (range 1-5) with the KVC and 3 (1-4) with the MAC, which were both significantly lower than the 4 (2-5) with the KVNC (p < 0.001). Esophageal intubation with the MAC occurred in 18 of 186 attempts, whereas no incidents of esophageal intubation occurred with the KVC or KVNC.

The KVC facilitated intubation by novice personnel without incidence of esophageal intubation. However, intubation times, success rates, and GSID scores were similar to the values obtained with the MAC. These findings suggest that the KVC, but not the KVNC, could be used as an alternative device for intubation by novice personnel.