Quand l'anesthésie explore son passé

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Ensuring breathing during anaesthesia has been an obsession since the beginning. Control of the tongue falling backwards during unconsciousness led to the use of mouth gags and tongue retractors between 1847 and 1920.

Mouth gags

Instruments for retracting the tongue to allow a clear view of the teeth and throat have existed since antiquity. Known in French as ‘glossocatoches’ in the XVIIIth century they were called tongue retractors in English from the XIXth century onwards. Mouth gags were used by both surgeons and dentists and were also used in anaesthesia when complications of airway control arose. Numerous versions were produced.

Oropharyngeal cannulae

Oropharyngeal cannulae date from the beginning of the 20th century (Hewitt, 1908, O’Connell 1913, Lumbard 1915, Miller 1918 and Guedel 1933).

At the present, the Guedel airway is an exact copy of the original device: only the materials used in manufacture have changed.