Cardiovascular Complications of Direct Laryngoscopy vs Video Laryngoscopy in Patients over 65 Years Old

Background and Objective: Laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation can be achieved through both direct and video laryngoscopy. As video laryngoscopy complications still remain unknown among the elderly, this study was emerged to grasp the idea on the complications of two aforementioned methods among the elderly. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 60 patients over 65 years who had been scheduled for elective surgery were allocated to video or Macintosh laryngoscopy groups. Duration of laryngoscopy, tracheal tube insertion time, number of intubation attempts, heart rate, systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure prior to the induction of anesthesia were recorded for all patients one minute after the intubation and the results were compared. Results: Average heart rate, diastolic blood pressure and arterial pressure before intubation were not significantly different in two groups. However, the mean systolic blood pressure between the two groups was significantly different (p=0.02). The mean difference in systolic (p=0.005) and diastolic (p=0.015) blood pressure, before and after the intubation was significantly higher in video laryngoscope group compared with Macintosh laryngoscope group. No significant difference was observed between two groups in terms of the heart rate and mean of arterial pressure before and after the intubation. Conclusion: The results illuminate that variations in hemodynamic status in patients over 65 years old in the video laryngoscope group exceeds Macintosh laryngoscope group.