Case 12: Gum Elastic Bougie

Abstract

Today you are working with a medical student in what would seem to be a straightforward surgical list. The first patient is a 40-year-old female for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. On examination, she has a class 2 airway, weighs 80 kg, and is 5’6”. She has no other medical or surgical problems. The medical student places the IV and you induce anesthesia. The medical student is masking the patient with ease. You tell the medical student to get the laryngoscope out. He places the scope correctly but tells you that he cannot see anything. You look and have to agree with him. You decide the patient is a class 3. You take out your gum elastic bougie (GEB) and place it blindly in what you think is the trachea. You pass a #7 endotracheal tube (ETT) over the GEB but have difficultly advancing the ETT. You turn the ETT 90–160 degrees to the right, and the ETT glides into what you presume is the trachea.