In Reply:
—We thank Dr. Ravindran for his interest in our report. 1We have encountered the same problem in which the fiber-optic bronchoscope passes through one of the two holes in the Ovassapian fiber-optic intubating airway.
When this problem occurs, difficulty advancing the fiberscope (between the tongue and the intubating airway) is encountered, the fiber-optic view is often obstructed, or pink oropharyngeal tissue (the tongue) and the white surface (lingual surface) of the airway are seen in the upper and the lower part of the fiber-optic view field, respectively, in contrast to the correct fiber-optic view of the airway.
We agree that the black line we pasted on the pharyngeal surface of the Ovassapian fiber-optic intubating airway would help confirm the correct placement of the fiberscope. To avoid this problem, a fiberscope should be correctly inserted into the Ovassapian airway under direct vision, or an endotracheal tube should be inserted into the airway before the fiberscope is inserted.