Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the following: the difficulty of inserting a laryngeal mask without the use of muscle relaxants and laryngoscopy; the incidence of possible intraoperative cardiocirculatory and respiratory alterations during the association of laryngeal mask and mechanical ventilation; local intra and postoperative complications due to their combined use.
Experimental protocol: Open, non-random study.
Setting: Provincial hospital. PATIENTS EXAMINED: 118 patients of both sexes, of various ages, and from a number of surgical fields.
Operations: General anaesthesia performed using mechanical ventilation and laryngeal mask.
Results: There was no difficulty in positioning the laryngeal mask without muscle relaxants and laryngoscopy; no alterations were observed in the hemodynamic and respiratory parameters monitored; intra and postoperative local complications were frequently present in a high percentage of cases, consisting respectively in increased mucopharyngeal secretion and pharyngeal irritation and dysarthria. Whereas the former did not represent a serious clinical problem, the latter proved more troublesome for patients following surgery.