PMID- 17588707
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070913
LR  - 20081121
IS  - 1097-6760 (Electronic)
IS  - 0196-0644 (Linking)
VI  - 50
IP  - 3
DP  - 2007 Sep
TI  - Light intensity of curved laryngoscope blades in Philadelphia emergency 
      departments.
PG  - 253-7
AB  - STUDY OBJECTIVE: Laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation requires laryngeal exposure 
      and illumination. The objective of this study is to assess variation in 
      laryngoscope lights across different emergency departments (EDs). METHODS: A 
      convenience sample of 3 Mac #4 blade and handle pairs in each of 17 Philadelphia 
      area EDs was tested with a digital light meter to derive the median lux at the 
      distal tip. For each blade tested, we characterized blade design (American, 
      English, or German) and light type (fiber-illuminated versus conventional 
      bulb-on-blade) and measured light-to-tip distance. RESULTS: A total of 50 blades 
      and handle pairs were tested (one ED had only 2 Mac #4 blades). American designs 
      were the most common (38/50), followed by English (6/50) and German (3/50) 
      designs. Three blades had hybrid design features and acrylic light-conducting 
      fibers. Median luminance varied from 11 lux to 5,627 lux. The glass 
      fiber-illuminated blades (n=13) produced greater luminance (median 1,205 lux; 
      interquartile range [IQR] 726 to 2,176 lux) than bulb-on-blade designs (median 
      689 lux; IQR 290 to 906 lux). German fiber-illuminated blades produced the 
      highest luminance (median 1,937 lux; IQR 1,453 to 3,782 lux). English 
      bulb-on-blade designs produced more luminance (median 915 lux; IQR 745 to 1270 
      lux) than American (median 689 lux; IQR 269 to 807 lux). German and English 
      blades had shorter light-to-tip distances (median 51 mm and 47 mm, respectively) 
      than American blades (65 mm). CONCLUSION: Curved laryngoscope blades in different 
      EDs have marked variation in light intensity. The contribution of luminance to 
      laryngoscopy performance warrants investigation.
FAU - Levitan, Richard M
AU  - Levitan RM
AD  - Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, 
      PA 19141, USA. levitanr@einstein.edu
FAU - Kelly, John J
AU  - Kelly JJ
FAU - Kinkle, William C
AU  - Kinkle WC
FAU - Fasano, Charles
AU  - Fasano C
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Multicenter Study
DEP - 20070622
PL  - United States
TA  - Ann Emerg Med
JT  - Annals of emergency medicine
JID - 8002646
SB  - IM
MH  - *Emergency Service, Hospital
MH  - Equipment Design
MH  - Fiber Optic Technology
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Intubation, Intratracheal
MH  - *Laryngoscopes
MH  - *Light
MH  - Philadelphia
EDAT- 2007/06/26 09:00
MHDA- 2007/09/14 09:00
CRDT- 2007/06/26 09:00
PHST- 2007/03/31 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2007/04/02 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2007/05/04 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2007/06/26 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/09/14 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/06/26 09:00 [entrez]
AID - S0196-0644(07)00574-4 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2007.05.005 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Ann Emerg Med. 2007 Sep;50(3):253-7. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2007.05.005. Epub 
      2007 Jun 22.