Comparison of insertion of the modified i-gel airway for oral surgery with the LMA Flexible: a manikin study

We previously modified the i-gel airway to enable its use in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery and reported its fabrication methods. In general, the standard i-gel airway is quick to insert and has a high success rate, but the modified i-gel airway has yet to be assessed for these attributes. We, therefore, set out to compare the ease of insertion of the modified i-gel airway with the LMA Flexible to investigate the usefulness of the modified i-gel airway. The study participants, who included 20 new interns with no experience using either the LMA Flexible or the modified i-gel airway, inserted each device 3 times into an intubation practice manikin. The variables measured in this study were insertion time and rate of successful insertions. Mean insertion time over 3 attempts was significantly shorter for the modified i-gel™ airway (18.9 ± 4.7 seconds) than the LMA Flexible (24.9 ± 5.1 seconds, P < .001). The rate of successful insertions as a total of all 3 attempts was significantly higher for the modified i-gel airway (56/60 times, 93.3%) than the LMA Flexible (45/60 times, 75%; P = .012). When used by an inexperienced operator, the modified i-gel™ airway is faster and has a higher success rate than the LMA Flexible, suggesting that it can be easily manipulated during insertion.