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Let there be light

Let there be light Fibre‐light laryngoscope blades can be dismantled and the bulbs sterilised and re‐used. We report a critical incident arising from incorrect assembly. Prior to an emergency intubation, a laryngoscope was tested and a bright light was seen from the tip of the blade. On inserting the laryngoscope into the patients mouth, no light was apparent. Direct laryngoscopy was therefore not possible. On further inspection of the laryngoscope, a size 4 MacIntosh blade had been assembled with a size 3 fibre‐light bulb. The size three bulb does not extend sufficiently through the flange of the blade (Figs 8 and 9). Consequently, the patient's tongue occluded the light source. We believe that this represents a unique problem to the fibre‐light bulb system with the potential for patient harm. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Anaesthesia Wiley

Let there be light

Price, R. J.; Russell, D.; Garrioch, M. A.
Anaesthesia , Volume 58 (3) – Mar 1, 2003
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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0003-2409
eISSN
1365-2044
DOI
10.1046/j.1365-2044.2003.306620.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Fibre‐light laryngoscope blades can be dismantled and the bulbs sterilised and re‐used. We report a critical incident arising from incorrect assembly. Prior to an emergency intubation, a laryngoscope was tested and a bright light was seen from the tip of the blade. On inserting the laryngoscope into the patients mouth, no light was apparent. Direct laryngoscopy was therefore not possible. On further inspection of the laryngoscope, a size 4 MacIntosh blade had been assembled with a size 3 fibre‐light bulb. The size three bulb does not extend sufficiently through the flange of the blade (Figs 8 and 9). Consequently, the patient's tongue occluded the light source. We believe that this represents a unique problem to the fibre‐light bulb system with the potential for patient harm.

Journal

Anaesthesia – Wiley

Published: Mar 1, 2003

There are no references for this article.