Background: Positive pressure ventilation (PPV) via a face mask is an important skill taught using manikins. There have been few attempts to assess the effectiveness of different face mask designs.
Aim: To determine whether leak at the face mask during simulated neonatal resuscitation differed between a new round mask design and the current most widely used model.
Method: 50 participants gave PPV to a modified manikin designed to measure leak at the face mask. Leak was calculated from the difference between the inspired and expired tidal volumes.
Results: Mask leak varied widely with no significant difference between devices; mean (SD) percentage leak for the Laerdal round mask was 55% (31) and with the Fisher & Paykel mask it was 57% (25).
Conclusion: We compared a new neonatal face mask with an established design and found no difference in leak. On average the mask leak was >50% irrespective of operator experience or technique.