To the Editor:—
In a recent letter, Erickson and Lanier1reported on a useful method to preoxygenate claustrophobic patients who will not tolerate a facemask, by having the patients hold the L-connector of the anesthesia circuit in their mouth. They may be interested to know that an identical method, complete with an almost identical photograph, was published as a correspondence by Keifer and Stirt2of this department in Anesthesiology a decade ago. I and others have used this technique on numerous occasions and agree with Drs. Erickson and Lanier that is extraordinarily easy and successful.
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. vbaum@virginia.edu
References
1.
Erickson KM, Lanier WL: Preoxygenation in claustrophobic patients (letter). Anesthesiology 2006; 104:387–8
2.
Keifer RB, Stirt JA: Preoxygenation (letter). Anesthesiology 1995; 83:429
