Introduction:

The use of additional barrier devices for endotracheal intubation constitutes a challenge for medical practice during the current pandemic. Multiple tools can be used for patient intubation minimizing operator exposure without compromising procedural safety. Any additional strategy must be properly evaluated and understood by the physician as it could interfere with intubation, increasing handling time.

Objective:

To compare anesthesiologists’ preference between two barrier devices, one designed based on a plastic sheet vs an acrylic box.

Material and methods:

We included 102 patients who underwent elective and emergency surgeries who voluntarily agreed to participate in this prospective, cross-sectional and comparative study with prior informed consent.

Results:

The plastic sheet allows a shorter intubation time, fewer laryngoscopy attempts and reduces approach difficulties, in addition it generates a higher degree of satisfaction in the personnel compared to rigid devices such as the acrylic box.

Conclusions:

It is possible to obtain good results to instrument the airway when additional barrier devices are used in trained personnel. However, taking into account the findings of this work, there are advantages with the use of plastic sheeting.

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