[Value of the laryngeal mask in emergency care--a survey of North German emergency physicians].

In clinical routine, the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) has proved an alternative to both endotracheal intubation and mask ventilation. In a survey among North German emergency physicians, aspects such as doctors' acquaintance with the LMA, the degree of ist distribution, its use and its potential benefits under non-hospital emergency conditions were evaluated. Seventeen per cent (n = 162) of physicians responded to the questionnaire, 75% of them (n = 122) anaesthetists. Although 73% (n = 119) were familiar with the use of the LMA from clinical experience, and again 73% would welcome having LMA use and application as part of the training of non-academic members of ambulance teams, only 24% (n = 37) of the responding doctors have an LMA on their emergency ambulances and merely twelve (7.4%) physicians reported actually using the LMA, one of them unsuccessfully. Sixty-three per cent considered the LMA the first-choice alternative in an unexpected "can't-ventilate-can't-intubate" situation. Use of the LMA should be extended in emergency medicine especially as its application is relatively easy to learn in clinical routine.