Evaluation of the Rapid Airway Management Positioner
Evaluation of the Rapid Airway Management Positioner
The purpose of this study is to determine if the Rapid Airway Management Positioner (RAMP,
 AirPal, Center Valley, PA) is a useful positioning device for direct laryngoscopy and
 tracheal intubation in obese patients undergoing gastric bypass or laparoscopic gastric
 banding surgery.
The cannot intubate, cannot ventilate case is the most dangerous of situations, and being
 able to foresee, prevent, and prepare for such difficulties is the task of every
 anesthesiologist. Difficult mask ventilation is predicted by a number of factors, including
 obesity.1 Appropriate bag-and-mask ventilation necessitates a patent airway. An increased BMI
 is associated with a reduced posterior airway space behind the tongue's base as well as a
 quick development of hypoxemia from reduced functional residual capacity in improper mask
 ventilation.1 Proper head and neck positioning to establish the patent airway then is
 especially important.

 There is an increased risk of difficult laryngoscopy among obese patients compared with
 subjects with normal body mass index.2,3 Optimal laryngeal view during laryngoscopy can be
 facilitated with proper head and neck positioning, including slight elevation of the head,
 neck flexion relative to the chest, and extreme atlanto-occipital extension.4 The "ramped"
 position, where the patient's ear is horizontally aligned with their sternal notch, has been
 found to be superior to the standard "sniffing" position, 7-cm occiput elevation, during
 direct laryngoscopy in morbidly obese patients.4

 Additionally, there are increased difficulties and risks for tracheal intubation in obese
 patients versus normal-weight patients. Studies have found that chances for a successful
 first attempt at oral intubation decrease as patient weight increases.6,7 Improving
 visualization of laryngeal structures will increase the likelihood of successful tracheal
 intubation, as increasing the percentage of glottic opening is correlated with the number of
 intubation attempts, as well as the need for rescue intubation devices.8

 It is estimated that endotracheal intubation is performed on approximately 8 million patients
 per year in the United States. Of these endotracheal intubations, approximately 80% are
 performed by direct laryngoscopy with transoral placement of the endotracheal tube (ET) into
 the trachea. There is fairly uniform reporting of the incidence of failed intubation in the
 literature; it occurs in approximately 0.05% or 1:2230 of surgical patients and in
 approximately 0.13% to 0.35%, or 1:750 to 1:280, of the obstetric patients.9,10 The incidence
 of unsuspected difficult intubation is estimated to be higher at 3%. One factor that
 contributes to difficult intubation is poor visualization, and difficult laryngoscopy is
 highly correlated with poor laryngeal exposure.11

 The Rapid Airway Management Positioner (RAMP) is designed to optimize visualization during
 direct laryngoscopy by placing the patient into the proper head-elevated laryngoscopy
 position (HELP). In morbidly obese patients, achieving this position is important,12 and
 requires a great deal of support under the head and shoulders that could not be performed
 singlehandedly.13 The RAMP is an easy-to-use, quick device, taking an average of 56 seconds
 to place and inflate.14

 The RAMP has great potential in obese patients. Pre-positioning also helps increase the
 desaturation safety period for morbidly obese patients.15 Rescue ventilation techniques are
 facilitated by the HELP position, when the head and neck are elevated above the chest and
 abdomen. The airway is therefore more isolated and easier to work with, and less positive
 airway pressure is needed when the weight of the abdomen is away from the diaphragm.
 Currently, placing a patient on top of stacked blankets is common and can create the HELP, or
 "ramped" position, 5 but also causes variable and unstable results. We suspect that by
 providing a better laryngeal view, the RAMP may help decrease the incidence of tissue trauma
 associated with intubation, and intubation may be achieved more quickly in a population that
 is known to be difficult.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  The 50 subjects will be adult surgical candidates age 18-80, ASA I-III, BMI > 30 kg/m2
 presenting for gastric bypass or laparoscopic gastric banding surgery who require
 general anesthesia.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients will be excluded if it is determined that an awake intubation should be
 performed. Mallampati IV and ASA IV-V patients will also be excluded, as well as
 patients with unstable cervical, thoracic and/or lumbar fracture.