diagnostics Review Optical Devices in Tracheal Intubation—State of the Art in 2020 Jan Matek 1,2, Frantisek Kolek 3, Olga Klementova 4, Pavel Michalek 5,6 and Tomas Vymazal 3,* 1 1st Department of Surgery—Department of Abdominal, Thoracic Surgery and Traumatology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and General University Hospital in Prague, 12800 Prague, Czech Republic;
[email protected] 2 Medical Faculty, Masaryk University, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic 3 Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Medicine, University Hospital Motol, V Úvalu 84, 15000 Praha, Czech Republic;
[email protected] 4 Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Medicine, University Hospital Olomouc, I.P. Pavlova 185, Nová Ulice, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic;
[email protected] 5 Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and General University Hospital, U Nemocnice 499/2, 12808 Praha, Czech Republic;
[email protected] 6 Department of Anaesthesia, Antrim Area Hospital, Antrim BT41 2RL, UK * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +420-606-413-489 Abstract: The review article is focused on developments in optical devices, other than laryngoscopes, in airway management and tracheal intubation. It brings information on advantages and limita- tions in their use, compares different devices, and summarizes benefits in various clinical settings. Supraglottic airway devices may be used as a conduit for fiberscope-guided tracheal intubation mainly as a rescue plan in the scenario of difficult or failed laryngoscopy. Some of these devices offer the possibility of direct endotracheal tube placement. Hybrid devices combine the features of two different intubating tools.