ICU · Airway management

Supraglottic Airway Devices — LMA, i-gel & Second-Generation Devices

Also known as Supraglottic airway device · SAD · Laryngeal mask airway · LMA · i-gel · ProSeal · LMA Supreme · Second-generation supraglottic airway · Rescue airway · Airway exchange conduit

A supraglottic airway device (SAD) sits in the pharynx and seals around the laryngeal inlet, providing a hands-free airway without entering the trachea — bridging the gap between bag-valve-mask and endotracheal intubation. First-generation devices (classic LMA) have a single lumen and no gastric drainage and failed as rescue devices in NAP4; second-generation devices (i-gel, ProSeal, Supreme) add a gastric drainage channel and a higher seal pressure, giving partial aspiration protection and an intubation conduit. In the difficult-airway algorithm the SAD is the Plan B rescue; it is not a definitive airway, because it does not isolate the trachea.