Manfield Theatres and Levi Strauss
New anaesthetic kit for Manfield orthopaedic theatres
Manfield Orthopaedic theatres, were delighted to demonstrated a new anaesthetic instrument, the videolaryngoscope, to two employees of Levi-Strauss who had arranged fundraising events to generously purchase this equipment for the anaesthetic department at NGH.
It allows “tracheal intubation”, a critical manoeuvre performed at the start of most major operations, to be achieved more safely. During this procedure a tube is passed into the windpipe and connected to a breathing machine for the duration of surgery.
The standard technique for this involves carefully inserting a shaped metal instrument into the patient’s mouth, advancing it to the base of the tongue and pulling forward to get a view of the top of the windpipe. In about 5 in 100 patients this procedure is difficult, and it proves impossible in about one in 400. Patients with broken necks, rheumatoid arthritis and another form of arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, are notoriously difficult to “intubate”, and patients with these conditions frequently require orthopaedic operations.
The new “videolaryngoscope” has a miniature camera within a sterile plastic blade. It displays a picture of the top of the windpipe on a large screen, and simplifies the process of inserting a breathing tube. It will significantly enhance patient safety and its purchase by Levi Strauss is greatly appreciated by all members of the Anaesthetic Department and Manfield theatres