An algorithm for suboptimally placed supraglottic airway devices: the choice of videolaryngoscope

Editor—We agree with Zundert and colleagues¹ that anaesthetists sometimes accept lower standards for supraglottic airway device (SAD) placement than for tracheal tube placement. They advocate the use of videolaryngoscopy to correct a suboptimal SAD position using an algorithm, however they do not make any specific recommendation about which type of videolaryngoscope to use. A variety of classifications of videolaryngoscopes exist,^2–5 and some classes (for example, channelled videolaryngoscopes) might prove to be very difficult to use in this situation; some may even cause trauma in the reduced space available when an SAD is present. Zundert and colleagues ⁶ have previously referenced the C-MAC videolaryngoscope (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany) in this situation, but presumably other Macintosh-type bladed scopes would be acceptable. We would be keen to learn whether they have experience of other videolaryngoscopes, and we also wondered whether they had considered the place of the optical stylet.

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