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Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Topical Airway Anesthesia for Awake-endoscopic Intubation Using the Spray-as-you-go Technique with High Oxygen Flow
Published on: January 13, 2017
Local Anaesthesia for Fiberoptic Intubation : A Comparison of Three Techniques
N Sethi1, V K Tarneja2, T P Madhusudanan3
1Classified Specialist (Anaesthesia and Paediatric Anaesthesia), Army Hospital (R & R), Delhi Cantt.
Background:
The successful conduct of fiberoptic aided intubation is dependent upon effective local anaesthesia. The aim of the study was to compare three different methods of anaesthetizing the airway.
Methods:
60 adult patients (American Society of Anaesthesiologists status I-III and Mallampati class III & IV), scheduled for elective surgery, received sedation followed by spraying of the nares and posterior pharyngeal wall with 4% lignocaine. Thereafter the patients received 4 ml of 4% lignocaine either by transtracheal injection (n=20, group A), via intubating fiberscope (Pentax F1-10P2) using 'spray as you go' technique (n=20, group B) or by nebulizer (Devilbiss 5610W) 20 min before intubation, (n=20, group C). Patients were asked to score the procedure using visual analog scale (VAS) and severity scores. Episodes of coughing, choking, stridor, extra / total local anaesthetic used and intubation times were recorded. Patients were monitored continuously for vital parameters.
Results:
Group B patients showed better VAS scores with shorter intubation times and had a lower incidence of coughing and choking. The endoscopists' VAS scores also showed a preference for group B.
Conclusion:
In conclusion the 'spray as you go' technique was safe, provided effective local anaesthesia and was preferred by both patients and endoscopists.
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