Characterization of Tracheal Intubation with the VALOR Videolaryngoscope in patients with Difficult Airway

Abstract

Introduction: Videolaryngoscopy is the gold standard procedure for difficult airway management; however, the economic costs of commercial video laryngoscopes are prohibitive to their acquisition and widespread use in low- and middle-income nations.

Objective: To characterize tracheal intubation with the VALOR videolaryngoscope in surgical patients with difficult airway.

Methods: An observational, descriptive, prospective and longitudinal study was conducted, in which the VALOR videolaryngoscope was used in 36 surgical patients with predictive signs of difficult airway. The study was carried out in the anesthesiology and resuscitation service at Complejo Científico Ortopédico Internacional Frank País, from September 2022 to January 2024.

Results: Effective tracheal intubation was performed on all patients in an average time of 49 seconds. 94.4 % of the patients required a single intubation attempt, with an adequate glottic view according to the VIDIAC and VCI scales. 47 % of the sample were patients with cervical spine–related diseases. Observed adverse events included reflex tachycardia (19.4 %) and mild pharyngeal trauma (2.8 %), without perioperative implications. External laryngeal manipulation maneuvers predominated (61.1 %), together with use of Bougie (91.7 %) and indirect epiglottis lifting (80.6 %), with parity between Macintosh (52.8 %) and hyperangulated (47.2 %) blades.

Conclusions: The VALOR videolaryngoscope favored effective tracheal intubation on the first attempt in patients with predictive signs of difficult airway, in a short time, with optimal visualization of the glottis and a low incidence of adverse events.