Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

HAMILTON - A piece of equipment being used at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital is making it easier for doctors and less painful for patients who need a breathing tube put in.

"The GlideScope allows us to visualize a patient's airway and place an endotracheal tube in the event that the patient needs resuscitation" explained Marcus Daly ER doctor Brian Kelleher.

The old tool only had a light on the end to use as a guide when medical professionals move down a patient's throat. But, the new tool has a camera where doctors can watch a monitor to see exactly where the breathing tube needs to go.

"It allows us to manage the airway of individuals who have a problematic airway" Kelleher said. "Folks who have large, squat necks, large facial features, large tongue...also people who might have facial traumatic injuries."

"Patients who might otherwise need an awake, fiber-optic intubation, where they're sedated and numbed up to achieve an airway. It's allowed us to drift them off to sleep, put in a breathing tube without much fuss" added Rob Ward with the Marcus Daly Anesthisia Department.

He added that the GlideScope will reduce the patient's discomfort after the needed procedure. "Patients, especially if they're a difficult intubation, will frequently complain that they have a sore throat for a few days. This will go a long way in elimination or reducing that discomfort."

Ward says the scope also allows them to see better through blood and if a patient has a neck injury, doctors don't have to move their head as much to insert the tube.