Different Kinds Of Laryngoscope Blades When you’re about to perform a laryngoscopy on a patient, it’s important to have the appropriate types of laryngoscope blades at the ready. There is a chance that an easy exam could become a surgical procedure if any pathological condition is found. These blades are quite advanced technological devices, often including a light that will improve visibility while you examine a patient’s vocal cords and the surrounding tissues. The blades around today for medical professional use have four general categories: conventional blades, fiber optic blades, stainless steel disposable blades and Heine style blades. There are several types of conventional blades that are available, such as straight and curved designs. For size categories the blades are numbered zero through four, and size zero is the smallest available and those blades will be used on infants and smaller children. Various accessories can be added to these blades to increase their functionality, such as mirrors and oxygen ports. Fiber-optic blades are also available in curved and straight styles. These blades weight very little and make it quite easy to switch out blades of various shapes and sizes. There is an additional size around for this kind of blade, with the five blade being the biggest size. Disposable blades come in handy if you expect to be working with numerous patients and don't have the time or resources for cleaning blades between patients. The demands of medical sterilization can be quite time-consuming, so if your situation does not allow you the time required to sterilize instruments properly, then disposable laryngoscope blades could be the best choice. An additional advantage of this type of blade is that, when temperatures are extremely low, it doesn't become so cold that it could stick to a patient’s tissues (as some other blades might). So if you are performing an emergency laryngoscopy out in freezing weather, you should definitely be utilizing disposable blades. These blades are made of surgical-grade stainless steel, which makes them just as efficient at tissue manipulation as any other type of non-disposable blade. They designed Heine-style blades to keep debris from collecting on the blades surface. This helps to sterilize them much faster, something that can be very advantageous in the busy hospital setting where only a few physicians are there to perform a laryngoscopies. These blades are also available with fiber-optic cables that can provide long-lasting light for increased visibility. Like fiberoptic blades, Heine-style blades can be found in sizes zero through five (five being the largest). As medical technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, additional styles of blades are emerging. Among the newest designs is the fluorescent coated stylet that features a fluorescent light source that helps with the positioning of the device in the tracheal opening. Since each kind of blade features its own distinct benefits, it’s smart to have a supply that contains several of each category. There are many reasons that laryngoscopies are performed, and each particular procedure will have a particular blade that'll be most suitable. It’s also essential to have a full collection of sizes to be able to maximize the success of the procedure for each patient. If a laryngoscopy is performed with a blade that is not optimized to the particular patient, then the patient could suffer some permanent complications, including undesirable alteration to the vocal cords. OHM Medical Training Service Inc
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