Visualization of the Intubation Pathway With the "IRRIS"-Device

University of Zurich (UZH)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Difficult Intubation

Treatments: Device: IRRIS InfraRed - Red Intubation System

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03234283

2016-01657

Details and patient eligibility

About

A prospective, open label, non-randomized, single centre safety and feasibility study. Patients with no expected airway difficulties scheduled for elective surgery including tracheal intubation and general anesthesia procedures will be enrolled into the study. Following standard induction of anesthesia, the IRRIS will be attached to the patient's neck skin just beneath the laryngeal prominence (Adam's apple) and the intubation will be performed by using a video-laryngoscope in a standardized fashion. The IRRIS device emits a light that penetrates through the skin into the airway and that is visible on the video-laryngoscope display. This light highlights the right pathway for the tracheal tube and facilitates the visual recognition and identification of the laryngeal inlet. In case of problems identified during the induction period such as an unexpected difficult intubation situation and the IRRIS does not provide the expected facilitation of intubation, the local "unexpected difficult airway" protocol goes into effect.

Full description

The IRRIS (InfraRed - Red Intubation System) is an external disposable light source in a patch that is intended for single use while it is placed externally on the patient's neck before tracheal intubation for the duration of tracheal intubation. The device transmits near-infrared light through the skin towards the trachea. During laryngoscopy, the emitted light becomes visible only from the trachea and not from the oesophagus. Video assisted devices which already are in the market known as video-laryngoscopes and fiberoptic bronchoscopes are capable of detecting and visualizing the emitted light so that the anaesthesiologist who is performing the intubation is aided to direct and insert the endotracheal tube into the trachea by following the light on the screen of his video-assisted endoscope. The objective of this study is to assess the safety, and performance of IRRIS in patients who undergo tracheal intubation in terms of skin integrity, duration of intubation, number of attempts, success of intubation and usability aspects in terms of subjective physician grading of the IRRIS.

Enrollment: 40 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Male and female patients scheduled for elective surgery requiring general anesthesia and tracheal intubation.
2. Patient age: adult (>18 years old)
3. Mallampati scores 1 to 3.
4. ASA Physical Status Classification System 1-3
5. Ability to understand the requirements of the study, willingness to comply with its instructions and schedules, and agreement to the informed consent

Exclusion criteria

1. Emergency cases
2. Expected airway difficulties as defined during the pre-anaesthesia visit
3. Necessity for an alternative airway management approach other than by using a video-laryngoscope
4. Rapid sequence induction
5. Skin disorders and skin light sensitivity (SLE, lupus, Porphyria, Dermatomyositis, Pemphigus, Pellagra etc.)
6. Known history of any significant medical disorder, which in the investigator's judgment contraindicates the patient's participation
7. Impaired head and neck mobility
8. Scars or skin injuries at the neck

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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40 participants in 1 patient group

Study intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

All participants will be intubated with a video-laryngiscope by guiding the tracheal tube according to the highlighted Larynx on the Video Screen.

Treatment:

Device: IRRIS InfraRed - Red Intubation System