T
here's no question that evolving technology has revolu-
tionized airway management. You'd be hard-pressed to
find an anesthesia provider who can't readily recall a
time that a newer device helped save the day after a
"routine" patient turned out to have a decidedly un-rou-
tine airway.
But do new technology and better tools change the game when
determining whether patients who may have seemed too risky a few
years ago might now be viable candidates for outpatient procedures?
Among the questions we asked a panel of anesthesia providers was
whether they now accept outpatient cases they would have rejected 3
to 5 years ago. Their answer? A 50-50 split.
"I've rarely turned down a case due to a difficult airway, but having
1 2 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6
Master of the
Difficult Airway
New devices are making difficult cases safer
— and opening the doors to more
challenging patients.
Jim Burger
Associate Editor
• CLEAR VIEW Video laryngoscopes are far and away the most frequently cited improvement, eliminating the need to look around corners or move anatomy.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
