Comparison of the use of the laryngeal mask and face mask by inexperienced personnel.

Ten junior doctors with no postgraduate anaesthetic experience attempted to ventilate the lungs of 50 anaesthetized patients, using either a laryngeal mask or a Guedel airway and face mask. Success was defined as the production of two successive tidal volumes exceeding 800 ml within 40 s. The failure rate was significantly greater using the laryngeal mask compared with the face mask (P < 0.05) and the average time was significantly longer with the laryngeal mask than with the face mask (P < 0.01). The results from this investigation suggest the laryngeal mask airway cannot be recommended as a resuscitation device for use by inexperienced operators.