Abstract
Tracheal intubation is an important procedure in anesthesia and emergency medicine. The standard intubation technique is direct laryngoscopy using a Macintosh blade; however, video laryngoscopy has become common and research has shown several advantages of video laryngoscopy over direct laryngoscopy. In the present study we investigated whether video laryngoscopy resulted in the intubating person adopting a more ergonomic body posture than direct laryngoscopy. To this end, 25 medical students were video-recorded intubating a manikin using a GlideScope® or a Macintosh blade. Using the GlideScope® resulted in smaller deflections for all analyzed posture angles than using the Macintosh blade. Similarly, the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (Hignett & McAtamney, 2000) indicated that the GlideScope® resulted in a body posture less likely to induce injuries than the Macintosh blade. Overall, video laryngoscopy using a GlideScope® resulted in a more ergonomic posture compared to the Macintosh blade.
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