EVALUATING EFFECTIVENESS OF WARMING ENDOTRACHEAL TUBE IN BLIND NASOTRACHEAL INTUBATION IN MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY

Objective: To compare the intubation time, number of attempts to intubation and complications of BNTIbyusing normal ETTs against those softened by warming them with water at 50°C. Methodology: Eighty adult patients both male and female scheduled to undergo elective maxillofacial surgery under general anesthesia (GA) were randomly divided into two groups; Group A: BNTI carried out in patients using ETT without warming, Group B: BNTI using ETT warmed and softened with water at 50°C for 5 minutes. The intubation time, number of attempts to intubation and complications of BNTI in both the groups were recorded and compared. Results: We found that BNTI in group B required lesser time and lesser number of attempts for intubation, with low incidences of complications as compared to group A. We found that the most frequent position of nasotracheal tube was tracheal followed by esophageal and anterior positions. Conclusion: ETT softened by warm water facilitated BNTIwith reduced frequency and severity of observed complications like epistaxis, bronchospasm, laryngospasm, painful nose and post-operative sore throat.