A comparison of endotracheal intubation and use of the laryngeal mask airway for ambulatory oral surgery patients

Purpose: This study compared current experience with the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) to previous experience with endotracheal intubation for ambulatory patients receiving general anesthesia. Patients and Methods: A retrospective comparison of 157 patients (50 endotracheal intubation [ET] and 107 LMA cases) was conducted. The subjects were American Association of Anesthesiologist (ASA) Class I and II patients who underwent outpatient general anesthesia for dentoalveolar surgery. Procedure time, recovery time, and cost of techniques were compared. Results: The patients undergoing a variety of outpatient dentoalveolar surgical procedures under general anesthesia in the LMA group had a shorter procedure time than the ET group (40 vs 44 minutes) and had a significantly shorter recovery time (54 vs 67 minutes). In addition, compared with the cost of delivering care with ET, the LMA provided slightly lower cost per case ($20 to $30 per case compared with $35 to $80 per case), depending on the anesthetic technique used. Comparing the 2 techniques for removal of 4 impacted third molars (25 patients ET and 68 patients LMA) revealed a similar procedure time of 39 minutes for both groups, but a shorter recovery time for the LMA group (54 vs 68 minutes). Conclusions: Use of the LMA has advantages over endotracheal intubation for outpatients receiving general anesthesia for dentoalveolar surgery. (C) 2002 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.