A major responsibility of the anaesthesiologist is to provide adequate ventilaion to the patient. The most vital element in providing functional respiration is the airway. Management of the airway has come a long way since the development of endotracheal intubation by Macewen in 1880 to present day use of modern and sophisticated devices. The wide variety of airway armamentarium available today may broadly be classified as intraglottic and extraglottic airway devices, which are employed to protect the airway in both elective as well as emergency situations. New extraglottic airway devices have also been described at a rate of one per year for the last twenty five years, increasing to two per year since the turn of the century.
