Background: The various supraglottic airway devices with their advent have created a revolution in the management of airway. We have made an attempt to compare the clinical performance of the two types of supraglottic devices namely Igel and LMA proseal during general anesthesia in spontaneously breathing patients.

Materials and Methods: Sixty ASA grade I and II adult patients of either sex were randomly assigned into two groups. Group I (n=30) for I-gel and Group P (n=30) LMA ProSeal. We assessed the ease of insertion, attempts for insertion, ease of gastric tube placement, airway sealing pressure and postoperative sore throat and hoarseness of voice. Results: There were no significant differences in
demographic data. The airway sealing pressure was higher with Group P (27.87±2.29cm H 2O) than with Group I (23.77 ±2.13cm H 2O) (p < 0.05). The ease of insertion was comparable between Group I (29/30) with Group P (26/30) (> 0.05). The success rate of first attempt of insertion was 29/30 in Igel and 28/30 in proseal group (p> 0.05). Ryles tube could be inserted easily in all the 30 patients of each of the two groups. The adverse effects like Blood stain on LMA coughing on insertion, sore throat and hoarseness assessed at 6 hours and 24 hours of postoperative period were statistically insignificant among the two groups.

Conclusions: Proseal provides a better airway sealing pressure than Igel with comparable performance in ease of insertion , number of attempts at insertion and postoperative adverse events.