Standard technique versus rotational technique of insertion of Baska mask®

Abstract

Background and Aims: Baska Mask® is a new third-generation supraglottic airway device (SGAD). The placement of Baska Mask® using the standard technique causes posterior displacement of the tongue, leading to incorrect positioning and insertion failure. The rotation technique may alleviate this obstacle during insertion by decreasing resistance between the airway and tongue. The primary objective of this study was to compare the insertion time between the standard versus rotational technique of Baska Mask®, and the secondary outcome measures were ease of insertion, number of attempts and postoperative airway morbidity with both techniques. Methods: One hundred consenting adults of the American Society of Anaesthesiologists I-II, aged 20–65 years of either gender scheduled for a variety of surgical procedures under general anaesthesia in a tertiary care hospital (May 2019 to November 2020), were included in the study. The patients were randomly allocated to Group S and Group R using the standard and rotation techniques, respectively. All statistical analyses were done using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software. The comparison of quantitative variables between the study groups was done using the Student's t-test and Mann–Whitney test. For comparing categorical data, the Chi-square χ2 test was performed. Results: The mean insertion time was significantly higher with the standard compared to the rotation technique of Baska Mask (20.90 ± 3.13 vs. 14.84 ± 1.11 s, P = 0.000). Device insertion was easy in rotation compared to the standard technique (P = 0.031). The number of attempts required for insertion was more with the standard technique than with the rotation technique (P = 0.011). Conclusion: Although the standard technique of Baska Mask® remains the first choice, the rotational technique of Baska Mask® has a higher success of insertion with fewer complications than the standard technique; hence, it can be accepted as an alternative.