Fig. 1. Flow diagram of the experimental protocol. Patients who could not be successfully intubated within the first 30-s attempt were entered in the crossover phase of the study (shaded boxes). During the second intubation attempt, patients of the cricoid pressure group had a sham cricoid pressure applied while patients of the sham cricoid pressure group had a cricoid pressure applied. *Patients were excluded for the following reasons: symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux (n = 42), morbid obesity (n = 21), use of a laryngeal mask airway (n = 14), inability to give consent (n = 11), upper respiratory tract abnormalities (n = 8), contraindication to a cricoid pressure (n = 8), history of a difficult intubation requiring an alternative to direct laryngoscopy (n = 5), contraindication to any of the study medications (n = 3), other reasons (n = 2). CP = cricoid pressure; SCP = sham cricoid pressure.