Minimum alveolar sevoflurane concentrations required for insertion of the cuffed oropharyngeal airway and the laryngeal mask airway: a comparative study

Both the cuffed oropharyngeal airway and the laryngeal mask airway share a similar property of being less stimulating to the upper airway than the tracheal tube. This study was conducted to compare sevoflurane concentrations required for insertion of the cuffed oropharyngeal airway and the laryngeal mask airway in elderly and young adult patients. Forty-one elderly (65-90 years) and 34 young adult (18-50 years) patients, scheduled for elective surgery during spontaneous breathing anaesthesia were randomly assigned to either the cuffed oropharyngeal airway or the laryngeal mask airway group. After a predetermined end-tidal concentration of sevoflurane had been established and maintained for at least 20 min, insertion of the device was attempted without neuromuscular relaxants or other adjuvants. Each concentration at which insertion of the device was attempted was predetermined by modification of Dixon's up-and-down method with 0.5% as the step size. Sevoflurane MACCOPA [mean 1.17 (SD 0.38)%, 0.77-1.56% (95% CI)] was significantly less than MACLMA [2.00 (0.52)%, 1.45-2.55%, p < 0.05] for elderly patients. Similarly, sevoflurane MACCOPA [1.33 (0.38)%, 0.94-1.73%] was significantly less than MACLMA [2.00 (0.42)%, 1.56-2.44%, p < 0.05] for young adult patients. There were no significant differences in either MACCOPA or MACLMA between the elderly and the young adult patients. We conclude that the insertion of the cuffed oropharyngeal airway can be accomplished at a lower sevoflurane concentration, and hence, is less stimulating to the upper airway than that of the laryngeal mask airway.