Long-Term Outcomes of Cricothyroidotomy Versus Endotracheal Intubation in Military Personnel: A Retrospective Comparative Analysis Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency airway management is critical in trauma care. Cricothyroidotomy (CRIC) is a salvage procedure commonly used in failed endotracheal intubation (ETI) or difficult airway cases. However, more data is needed regarding the short and long-term complications associated with CRIC. This study aimed to evaluate the Israel Defense Forces experience with CRIC over the past 2 decades and compare the short-term and long-term sequelae of prehospital CRIC and ETI. METHODS: Data on patients undergoing either CRIC or ETI in the prehospital setting between 1997 and 2021 were extracted from the Israel Defense Forces trauma registry. Patient data was then cross-referenced with the Israel national trauma registry, documenting in-hospital care, and the Israel Ministry of Defense rehabilitation department registry, containing long-term disability files of military personnel. RESULTS: Of the 122 patients with short-term follow-up through initial hospitalization, 81% underwent prehospital ETI, while 19% underwent CRIC. There was a higher prevalence of military-related and explosion injuries among the CRIC patients (96% versus 65%, P = 0.02). Patients who underwent CRIC more frequently exhibited oxygen saturations below 90% (52% versus 29%, P = 0.002). Injury Severity Score was comparable between groups.No significant difference was found in intensive care unit length of stay and need for tracheostomy. Regarding long-term complications, with a median follow-up time of 15 y, CRIC patients had more upper airway impairment, with most suffering from hoarseness alone. One patient in the CRIC group suffered from esophageal stricture. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective comparative analysis did not reveal significant short or long-term sequelae among military personnel who underwent prehospital CRIC. The long-term follow-up did not indicate severe aerodigestive impairments, thus suggesting that this technique is safe. Along with the high success rates attributed to this procedure, we recommend that CRIC remains in the armamentarium of trauma care providers. The findings of this study could provide valuable insights into managing difficult airway in trauma care and inform clinical decision-making in emergency settings.

Association Between Emergency Medical Service Agency Intubation Rate and Intubation Success.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Airway management is a crucial part of out-of-hospital care. It is not known if the rate of overall agency intubation attempts is associated with intubation success. We sought to evaluate the association between agency intubation attempt rate and intubation success using a national out-of-hospital database. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective secondary analysis of the ESO Data Collaborative from 2018 to 2019, and included all adult cases with an endotracheal intubation attempt. We calculated the number of intubations attempted per 100 responses, advanced life support responses, and transports for each agency. We excluded cases originating at health care facilities and outliers. We used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the association between agency intubation attempt rate and 1) intubation success and 2) first-pass success. We adjusted for confounders. RESULTS: We included 1,005 agencies attempting 58,509 intubations. Overall, the intubation success rate was 78.8%, and the first-pass success rate was 68.5%. Per agency, the median rate of intubation attempts per 100 emergency medical service responses was 0.8 (interquartile range 0.6 to 1.1). Rates of intubation attempts per 100 responses (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6 to 1.8), advanced life support responses (aOR 1.18; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.20), and transports (aOR 1.21; 95% CI 1.18 to 1.22) were all associated with intubation success. These relationships were similar for first-pass success but with smaller effect sizes. CONCLUSION: Higher agency rates of intubation attempts were associated with increased rates of intubation success and first-pass success.

Comparison of Vie Scope® and Macintosh laryngoscopes for intubation during resuscitation by paramedics wearing personal protective equipment.

BACKGROUND: Endotracheal intubation (ETI) is still the gold standard of airway management, but in cases of sudden cardiac arrest in patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, ETI is associated with risks for both the patient and the medical personnel. We hypothesized that the Vie Scope® is more useful for endotracheal intubation of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cardiac arrest patients than the conventional laryngoscope with Macintosh blade when operators are wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). METHODS: Study was designed as a prospective, multicenter, randomized clinical trial performed by Emergency Medical Services in Poland. Patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation in prehospital setting were included. Patients under 18 years old or with criteria predictive of impossible intubation under direct laryngoscopy, were excluded. Patients were randomly allocated 1:1 to Vie Scope® versus direct laryngoscopy with a Macintosh blade. Study groups were compared on success of intubation attempts, time to intubation, glottis visualization and number of optimization maneuvers. RESULTS: We enrolled 90 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients, aged 43-92 years. Compared to the VieScope® laryngoscope, use of the Macintosh laryngoscope required longer times for tracheal intubation with an estimated mean difference of -48 s (95%CI confidence interval [CI], -60.23, -35.77; p < 0.001). Moreover VieScope® improved first attempt success rate, 93.3% vs. 51.1% respectively (odds ratio [OR] = 13.39; 95%CI: 3.62, 49.58; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of the Vie Scope® laryngoscope in OHCA patients improved the first attempt success rate, and reduced intubation time compared to Macintosh laryngoscope in paramedics wearing PPE for against aerosol generating procedures. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials registration number NCT04365608.

Implementation and Outcomes of a Difficult Airway Code Team Composed of Anesthesiologists in a Korean Tertiary Hospital: A Retrospective Analysis of a Prospective Registry.

BACKGROUND: In 2017, we established an airway call (AC) team composed of anesthesiologists to improve emergency airway management outside the operating room. In this retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the airway registry, we describe the characteristics of patients attended to and practices by the AC team during the first 4 years of implementation. METHODS: All AC team activations in which an airway intervention was performed by the AC team between June 2017 and May 2021 were analyzed. RESULTS: In all, 359 events were analyzed. Activation was more common outside of working hours (62.1%) and from the intensive care unit (85.0%); 36.2% of AC activations were due to known or anticipated difficult airway, most commonly because of acquired airway anomalies (n = 49), followed by airway edema or bleeding (n = 32) and very young age (≤ 1 years; n = 30). In 71.3% of the cases, successful intubation was performed by the AC team at the first attempt. However, three or more attempts were performed in 33 cases. The most common device used for successful intubation was the videolaryngoscope (59.7%). Tracheal intubation by the AC team failed in nine patients, who then required surgical airway insertion by otolaryngologists. However, there were no airway-related deaths. CONCLUSIONS: When coupled with appropriate assistance from an otolaryngologist AC system, an AC team composed of anesthesiologists could be an efficient way to provide safe airway management outside the operating room. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Research Information Service Identifier: KCT0006643.

First-attempt success rate of video laryngoscopy in small infants (VISI): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Orotracheal intubation of infants using direct laryngoscopy can be challenging. We aimed to investigate whether video laryngoscopy with a standard blade done by anaesthesia clinicians improves the first-attempt success rate of orotracheal intubation and reduces the risk of complications when compared with direct laryngoscopy. We hypothesised that the first-attempt success rate would be higher with video laryngoscopy than with direct laryngoscopy. METHODS: In this multicentre, parallel group, randomised controlled trial, we recruited infants without difficult airways abnormalities requiring orotracheal intubation in operating theatres at four quaternary children's hospitals in the USA and one in Australia. We randomly assigned patients (1:1) to video laryngoscopy or direct laryngoscopy using random permuted blocks of size 2, 4, and 6, and stratified by site and clinician role. Guardians were masked to group assignment. The primary outcome was the proportion of infants with a successful first attempt at orotracheal intubation. Analysis (modified intention-to-treat [mITT] and per-protocol) used a generalised estimating equation model to account for clustering of patients treated by the same clinician and institution, and adjusted for gestational age, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status, weight, clinician role, and institution. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03396432. FINDINGS: Between June 4, 2018, and Aug 19, 2019, 564 infants were randomly assigned: 282 (50%) to video laryngoscopy and 282 (50%) to direct laryngoscopy. The mean age of infants was 5·5 months (SD 3·3). 274 infants in the video laryngoscopy group and 278 infants in the direct laryngoscopy group were included in the mITT analysis. In the video laryngoscopy group, 254 (93%) infants were successfully intubated on the first attempt compared with 244 (88%) in the direct laryngoscopy group (adjusted absolute risk difference 5·5% [95% CI 0·7 to 10·3]; p=0·024). Severe complications occurred in four (2%) infants in the video laryngoscopy group compared with 15 (5%) in the direct laryngoscopy group (-3·7% [-6·5 to -0·9]; p=0·0087). Fewer oesophageal intubations occurred in the video laryngoscopy group (n=1 [<1%]) compared with in the direct laryngoscopy group (n=7 [3%]; -2·3 [-4·3 to -0·3]; p=0·028). INTERPRETATION: Among anaesthetised infants, using video laryngoscopy with a standard blade improves the first-attempt success rate and reduces complications. FUNDING: Anaesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, Society for Airway Management, and Karl Storz Endoscopy.

Current practice of thoracic anaesthesia in Europe - a survey by the European Society of Anaesthesiology Part I - airway management and regional anaesthesia techniques.

BACKGROUND: The scientific working group for "Anaesthesia in thoracic surgery" of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI) has performed an online survey to assess the current standards of care and structural properties of anaesthesia workstations in thoracic surgery. METHODS: All members of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA) were invited to participate in the study. RESULTS: Thoracic anaesthesia was most commonly performed by specialists/board-certified anaesthetists and/or senior/attending physicians. Across Europe, the double lumen tube (DLT) was most commonly chosen as the primary device for lung separation (461/ 97.3%). Bronchial blockers were chosen less frequently (9/ 1.9%). Throughout Europe, bronchoscopy was not consistently used to confirm correct double lumen tube positioning. Respondents from Eastern Europe (32/ 57.1%) frequently stated that there were not enough bronchoscopes available for every intrathoracic operation. A specific algorithm for difficult airway management in thoracic anaesthesia was available to only 18.6% (n = 88) of the respondents. Thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) is the most commonly used form of regional analgesia for thoracic surgery in Europe. Ultrasonography was widely available 93,8% (n = 412) throughout Europe and was predominantly used for central line placement and lung diagnostics. CONCLUSIONS: While certain "gold standards "are widely met, there are also aspects of care requiring substantial improvement in thoracic anaesthesia throughout Europe. Our data suggest that algorithms and standard operating procedures for difficult airway management in thoracic anaesthesia need to be established. A European recommendation for the basic requirements of an anaesthesia workstation for thoracic anaesthesia is expedient and desirable, to improve structural quality and patient safety.

Difficult airway predictors were associated with decreased use of neuromuscular blocking agents in emergency airway management: a retrospective cohort study in Thailand.

BACKGROUND: It is recommended that difficult airway predictors be evaluated before emergency airway management. However, little is known about how patients with difficult airway predictors are managed in emergency departments. We aimed to explore the incidence, management and outcomes of patients with difficult airway predictors in an emergency department. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using intubation data collected by a prospective registry in an academic emergency department from November 2017 to October 2018. Records with complete assessment of difficult airway predictors were included. Two categories of predictors were analyzed: predicted difficult intubation by direct laryngoscopy and predicted difficult bag-mask ventilation. The former was evaluated based on difficult external appearance, mouth opening and thyromental distance, Mallampati score, obstruction, and limited neck mobility as in the mnemonic "LEMON". The latter was evaluated based on difficult mask sealing, obstruction or obesity, absence of teeth, advanced age and reduced pulmonary compliance as in the mnemonic "MOANS". The incidence, management and outcomes of patients with these difficult airway predictors were explored. RESULTS: During the study period, 220 records met the inclusion criteria. At least 1 difficult airway predictor was present in 183 (83.2%) patients; 57 (25.9%) patients had at least one LEMON feature, and 178 (80.9%) had at least one MOANS feature. Among patients with at least one difficult airway predictor, both sedation and neuromuscular blocking agents were used in 105 (57.4%) encounters, only sedation was used in 65 (35.5%) encounters, and no medication was administered in 13 (7.1%) encounters. First-pass success was accomplished in 136 (74.3%) of the patients. Compared with patients without predictors, patients with positive LEMON criteria were less likely to receive neuromuscular blocking agents (OR 0.46 (95% CI 0.24-0.87), p = 0.02) after adjusting for operator experience and device used. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding glottic view, first-pass success, or complications. The LEMON criteria poorly predicted unsuccessful first pass and glottic view. CONCLUSIONS: In emergency airway management, difficult airway predictors were associated with decreased use of neuromuscular blocking agents but were not associated with glottic view, first-pass success, or complications.

Pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia in the United Kingdom: an observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Up to one in eight trauma patients arrive at a hospital with a partially or completely obstructed airway. The UK National Institute for health and Care Excellence (NICE) practice guidelines recommend that trauma patients requiring anaesthesia for definitive airway management receive this care within 45 min of an emergency call, preferably at the incident scene. How frequently this target is achieved remains unclear. We assessed the recorded time to pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia after trauma across UK helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) units. METHODS: We retrospectively recorded time to pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia across all 20 eligible UK HEMS units (comprising 52 enhanced care teams) from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018. Times recorded for emergency notification, dispatch, arrival, and neuromuscular blocking agent administration were analysed. RESULTS: HEMS undertook 1755 pre-hospital emergency anaesthetics for trauma across the UK during the study period. There were 1176/1755 (67%) episodes undertaken by helicopter response teams during daylight hours. The median time to pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia was 55 min (inter-quartile range: 45-70); anaesthesia within 45 min of the initial emergency call was achieved in 25% cases. Delayed dispatch time (>9 min) was associated with fewer patients receiving pre-hospital anaesthesia within 45 min (odds ratio: 7.7 [95% confidence intervals: 5.8-10.1]; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The time to achieve pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia by UK HEMS frequently exceeds the recommended 45 min target. Reducing the time to dispatch of emergency medical teams may impact on the delivery of pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia.

[Airway management in preclinical emergency anesthesia with respect to specialty and education]. / Notärztliches Atemwegsmanagement in Abhängigkeit von Fachrichtung und Weiterbildung.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Difficult airway management is a key skill in preclinical emergency medicine. A lower rate of subjective difficult airways and an increased success rate of endotracheal intubation have been reported for highly trained emergency physicians. The aim of this study was therefore to analyze the effect for different specialists and the individual state of training in the German emergency medical system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a retrospective register analysis of 6024 preclinical anesthesia procedures, the frequencies of airway devices, neuromuscular blocking agents, capnography and difficult airways were analyzed with respect to specialization and status of training. Additionally, low, medium and highly experienced emergency physicians in airway management were summarized by specialization and status of training according to the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition and compared. RESULTS: The incidence of subjective difficult airway situations was 10% for anesthesiological emergency physicians compared to 15-20% for other disciplines. The latter used supraglottic airway devices more often (7-9% vs. 4%) and video laryngoscopes less often (3% vs. 5%) compared to anesthesiological emergency physicians. The discipline-related state of training was inhomogeneous and revealed a reduced rate of supraglottic airway devices for internal specialists with further training (10% vs. 2%). Anesthetists specialized in intensive care medicine used capnography less frequently compared to other anesthetists (79% vs. 72%). With higher levels of experience in airway management, the frequency of endotracheal intubation (86% vs. 94%), neuromuscular blocking agents (59% vs. 73%) and video laryngoscopy (3% vs. 6%) increased and the incidence of subjective difficult airway situations (16% vs. 10%) decreased. CONCLUSION: The level of training in airway management especially for non-anesthetists is inhomogeneous. The recently published German S1 guidelines for prehospital airway management recommend education and training as well as the primary use of the video laryngoscope with Macintosh blade. The implementation could lower the incidence of subjective difficult airways.

Retrospective cohort study of hospital variation in airway management during in-hospital cardiac arrest and the association with patient survival: insights from Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation.

IMPORTANCE: The optimal approach to airway management during in-hospital cardiac arrest is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To describe hospital-level variation in endotracheal intubation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for in-hospital cardiac arrest and the association between hospital use of endotracheal intubation and arrest survival. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: Retrospective cohort study of adult patients suffering in-hospital cardiac arrest at Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation participating hospitals between January, 2000, and December, 2016. Hospitals were categorized into quartiles based on the proportion of in-hospital cardiac arrest patients managed with endotracheal intubation during CPR. Risk-adjusted mixed models with random intercepts were created to assess the association between hospital quartile of in-hospital arrests managed with endotracheal intubation during CPR and survival to hospital discharge. EXPOSURE: Hospital rate of endotracheal intubation during CPR for in-hospital arrest MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Survival to hospital discharge RESULTS: Among 155,252 patients suffering in-hospital cardiac arrest at 656 hospitals, 69.7% of patients received endotracheal intubation during CPR and overall survival to discharge was 24.8%. At the hospital level, the median rate of endotracheal intubation use was 71.2% (interquartile range, 63.6 to 78.1%; range, 26.6 to 100%). We found a strong inverse association between hospital rate of endotracheal intubation and survival to discharge (risk-adjusted odds ratio comparing highest intubation quartile vs. lowest intubation quartile, 0.81; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.74 to 0.90; p value < .001). This association was modified by the presence of respiratory failure prior to arrest (p for interaction < .001), and stratified analyses demonstrated lower patient survival at hospitals with higher rates of endotracheal intubation was limited to patients without respiratory failure prior to cardiac arrest. CONCLUSION: In a national sample of patients suffering IHCA, the use of endotracheal intubation during CPR varied across hospitals. We found a strong inverse association between hospital use of endotracheal intubation during CPR and survival to discharge, but this association was confined to patients without respiratory failure prior to arrest. Identifying the optimal approach to airway management for in-hospital cardiac arrest may have a significant impact on patient survival.

Prevalence of a definitive airway in patients with severe traumatic brain injury received at four urban public university hospitals in India: a cohort study.

AIM: To estimate the proportion of patients arriving with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) less than 9 who had a definitive airway placed prior to arrival. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the data from a multicentre, prospective observational research project entitled Towards Improved Trauma Care Outcomes in India. Adults aged ≥18 years with an isolated traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were transferred from another hospital to the emergency department of the participating hospital with a GCS less than 9 were included. Our outcome was a definitive airway, defined as either intubation or surgical airway, placed prior to arrival at a participating centre. RESULTS: The total number of patients eligible for this study was 1499. The median age was 40 years and 84% were male. Road traffic injuries and falls comprised 88% of the causes of isolated TBI. The number of patients with GCS<9 who had a definitive airway placed before reaching the participating centres was 229. Thus, the proportion was 0.15 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.17). The proportions of patients with a definitive airway who arrived after 24 hours (19%) were approximately double the proportion of patients who arrived within 6 hours (10%) after injury to the definitive care centre. CONCLUSION: The rates of definitive airway placement are poor in adults with an isolated TBI who have been transferred from another health facility to tertiary care centres in India.

Early-Onset Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: is There a Relationship with Prehospital Airway Management?

BACKGROUND: Prehospital airway management in severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is widely recommended by international guidelines for the management of trauma. Early-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia (EOVAP) is a common occurrence in this population and can worsen mortality and functional outcome. OBJECTIVES: In this retrospective observational study, we aimed to evaluate the association between different prehospital airway management variables and the occurrence of EOVAP. Secondarily we evaluated the correlation between EOVAP and mortality and neurological outcome. METHODS: The study retrospectively evaluated 223 patients admitted from 2010 to 2017 in our trauma intensive care unit for severe TBI. The population was divided into three groups on the basis of the airway management technique adopted (bag mask ventilation, laryngeal tube, orotracheal intubation). Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using the occurrence of EOVAP as the dependent variable, to investigate potential associations with prehospital airway management. RESULTS: A total of 131 episodes (58.7%) of EOVAP were registered in the study population (223 patients). Laryngeal tube and orotracheal intubation were used in patients with significantly lower Glasgow Coma Scale score on scene and a higher Face Abbreviated Injury Scale; advanced airway management significantly increased the total rescue time. The prehospital airway management technique adopted, prehospital type of sedation or use of muscle relaxants, type of transport, and rescue times were not associated with the occurrence of EOVAP. CONCLUSIONS: Prehospital airway management does not have a significant impact on the occurrence of EOVAP in severe TBI patients. Similarly, it does not have a significant impact on mortality or long-term neurological outcome despite increasing duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit, and hospital stay.

Confirmed cardiac output on emergency medical services arrival as confounding by indication: an observational study of prehospital airway management in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

OBJECTIVES: Many registry studies on patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) have reported that conventional bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation is independently associated with favourable outcomes. This study aimed to compare the data of patients with OCHA with confirmed cardiac output on emergency medical services (EMS) arrival and consider the confounding factors in prehospital airway management studies. METHODS: This was a cohort study using the registry data for survivors after out-of hospital cardiac arrest in the Kanto region at 2012 in Japan (SOS-KANTO 2012). Survivors who received advanced airway management (AAM) group and a BVM group were compared for confirmed cardiac output on EMS arrival and neurolgical outcome at 1 month. Favourable neurological outcome was defined as a score of one or two on the Cerebral Performance Categories Scale. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust the neurological outcome by age, gender, cardiac aetiology, witnessed arrest, shockable rhythm, cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed by a bystander, BVM at prehospital ventilation and presence of confirmed cardiac output on EMS arrival. RESULTS: A total of 16 452 patients were enrolled in the SOS-KANTO 2012 study, and of those data 12 867 were analysed; 5893 patients comprised the AAM group and 6974 comprised the BVM group. Of the study participants, 386 (2.9%) had confirmed cardiac output on EMS arrival; 340 (2.6%) of the entire study group had a favourable neurological outcome. The proportion of patients with confirmed cardiac output on EMS arrival was significantly higher in the BVM group (272: 3.9%) than in the AAM group (114: 1.9%) (95% CI: 1.65 to 2.25). The proportion of patients with favourable neurological outcomes was 30% (117/386) in those with cardiac output on EMS arrival compared with 1.8% (223/12481) in those without. The OR for a good neurological outcome with BVM decreased from 3.24 (2.49 to 4.20) to 2.60 (1.97 to 3.44) when confirmed cardiac output on EMS arrival was added to the multivariable model analysis. CONCLUSION: Confirmed cardiac output on EMS arrival should be considered as confounding by indication in observational studies of prehospital airway management.

Physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical services augment ground ambulance paediatric airway management in urban areas: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Paediatric intubation is a high-risk procedure for ground emergency medical services (GEMS). Physician-staffed helicopter EMS (PS-HEMS) may bring additional skills, drugs and equipment to the scene including advanced airway management beyond the scope of GEMS even in urban areas with short transport times. This study aimed to evaluate prehospital paediatric intubation performed by a PS-HEMS when dispatched to assist GEMS in a large urban area and examine how often PS-HEMS provided airway intervention that was not or could not be provided by GEMS. METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational study from July 2011 to December 2016 of a PS-HEMS in a large urban area (Sydney, Australia), which responds in parallel to GEMS. GEMS intubate without adjuvant neuromuscular blockade, whereas the PS-HEMS use neuromuscular blockade and anaesthetic agents. We examined endotracheal intubation success rate, first-look success rate and complications for the PS-HEMS and contrasted this with the advanced airway interventions provided by GEMS prior to PS-HEMS arrival. RESULTS: Overall intubation success rate was 62/62 (100%) and first-look success was 59/62 (95%) in the PS-HEMS-treated group, whereas the overall success rate was 2/7 (29%) for the GEMS group. Peri-intubation hypoxia was documented in 5/65 (8%) of the PS-HEMS intubation attempts but no other complications were reported. However, 3/7 (43%) of the attempted intubations by GEMS were oesophageal intubations, two of which were unrecognised. CONCLUSIONS: PS-HEMS have high success with low complication rates in paediatric prehospital intubation. Even in urban areas with rapid GEMS response, PS-HEMS activated in parallel can provide safe and timely advanced prehospital airway management for seriously ill and injured children beyond the scope of GEMS practice. Review of GEMS airway management protocols and the PS-HEMS case identification and dispatch system in Sydney is warranted.

Prehospital cricothyrotomies in a helicopter emergency medical service: analysis of 19,382 dispatches.

BACKGROUND: Creating a patent airway by cricothyrotomy is the ultimate maneuver to allow oxygenation (and ventilation) of the patient. Given the rarity of airway management catastrophes necessitating cricothyrotomy, sufficiently sized prospective randomized trials are difficult to perform. Our Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) documents all cases electronically, allowing a retrospective analysis of a larger database for all cases of prehospital cricothyrotomy. METHODS: We analyzed all 19,382 dispatches of our HEMS 'Lifeliner 1', since set-up of a searchable digital database. This HEMS operates 24/7, covering ~ 4.5 million inhabitants of The Netherlands. The potential cases were searched and cross-checked in two independent databases. RESULTS: We recorded n = 18 cases of prehospital cricothyrotomy. In all 18 cases, less invasive airway techniques, e.g., supraglottic devices, were attempted before cricothyrotomy. With exception of 2 cases, at least one attempt of orotracheal intubation had been performed before cricothyrotomy. Out of the 18 cases, 4 were performed by puncture-based technique (Melker), the remaining 14 cases by surgical technique. Indications for cricothyrotomy were diverse, dividable into 9 trauma cases and 9 medical cases. The procedure was successful in all but one case (17/18, i.e., 94%; with a 95% confidence interval of 72.7-99.9%). Outcome was such that 6/18 patients arrived at the hospital alive. Long term outcome was poor, with only 2/18 patients discharged from hospital alive. CONCLUSIONS: Cricothyrotomy remains, although rare, a regularly occurring requirement in (H)EMS. Our finding of a convincingly high success rate of 94% in trained hands encourages training and a timely performance of cricothyrotomy.

Pre-hospital advanced airway management by anaesthetist and nurse anaesthetist critical care teams: a prospective observational study of 2028 pre-hospital tracheal intubations.

BACKGROUND: Pre-hospital tracheal intubation success and complication rates vary considerably among provider categories. The purpose of this study was to estimate the success and complication rates of pre-hospital tracheal intubation performed by physician anaesthetist or nurse anaesthetist pre-hospital critical care teams. METHODS: Data were prospectively collected from critical care teams staffed with a physician anaesthetist or a nurse anaesthetist according to the Utstein template for pre-hospital advanced airway management. The patients served by six ambulance helicopters and six rapid response vehicles in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden from May 2015 to November 2016 were included. RESULTS: The critical care teams attended to 32 007 patients; 2028 (6.3%) required pre-hospital tracheal intubation. The overall success rate of pre-hospital tracheal intubation was 98.7% with a median intubation time of 25 s and an on-scene time of 25 min. The majority (67.0%) of the patients' tracheas were intubated by providers who had performed >2500 tracheal intubations. The success rate of tracheal intubation on the first attempt was 84.5%, and 95.9% of intubations were completed after two attempts. Complications related to pre-hospital tracheal intubation were recorded in 10.9% of the patients. Intubations after rapid sequence induction had a higher success rate compared with intubations without rapid sequence induction (99.4% vs 98.1%; P=0.02). Physicians had a higher tracheal intubation success rate than nurses (99.0% vs 97.6%; P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: When performed by experienced physician anaesthetists and nurse anaesthetists, pre-hospital tracheal intubation was completed rapidly with high success rates and a low incidence of complications. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT 02450071.

The change in management of bronchiolitis in the intensive care unit between 2000 and 2015.

This case-control study evaluated interventions for bronchiolitis in relation to time in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) during a 16-year surveillance period. Together, 105 infants aged < 12 months were treated for bronchiolitis in the PICU, and for them, we selected 210 controls admitted for bronchiolitis closest to cases. We collected data on treatments in the PICU, at the ward and in the emergency department for three periods: years 2000-2005, 2006-2010, and 2011-2015. Median hospital length of stay for PICU patients were 7 days (interquartile range 5-12), 5 days (4-8) and 8 days (4-12.5, p = 0.127), respectively. By time, the use of inhaled beta-agonist (68 vs. 44 vs. 38%, p = 0.019) and systemic corticosteroids (29 vs. 15 vs. 5%, p = 0.019) decreased, but that of racemic adrenaline (59 vs. 78 vs. 84%, p = 0.035) and hypertonic saline (0 vs. 0 vs. 54%, p < 0.001) inhalations increased in the PICU. Similar changes were seen at the ward. In the PICU, non-invasive ventilation therapies increased significantly, but intubation rates did not decline.Conclusion: Beta-agonists and systemic corticosteroids were used less by time in intensive care for infant bronchiolitis, but the use of hypertonic saline and racemic adrenaline increased, though their effectiveness has been questioned. What is Known: • Until now, studies have shown which treatments do not work in bronchiolitis, and so, there is no consensus how infants with bronchiolitis should be treated. In particular, there is no consensus on different interventions in intensive care for bronchiolitis. What is New: • During 2000-2015, treatments with inhaled beta-agonists and systemic corticosteroids decreased but treatments with racemic adrenaline and hypertonic saline inhalations increased in intensive care for bronchiolitis. Similar changes were seen at the ward. Though non-invasive ventilation therapies increased, the intubation rate did not decline.

Airway physical examination tests for detection of difficult airway management in apparently normal adult patients.

BACKGROUND: The unanticipated difficult airway is a potentially life-threatening event during anaesthesia or acute conditions. An unsuccessfully managed upper airway is associated with serious morbidity and mortality. Several bedside screening tests are used in clinical practice to identify those at high risk of difficult airway. Their accuracy and benefit however, remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to characterize and compare the diagnostic accuracy of the Mallampati classification and other commonly used airway examination tests for assessing the physical status of the airway in adult patients with no apparent anatomical airway abnormalities. We performed this individually for each of the four descriptors of the difficult airway: difficult face mask ventilation, difficult laryngoscopy, difficult tracheal intubation, and failed intubation. SEARCH METHODS: We searched major electronic databases including CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, ISI Web of Science, CINAHL, as well as regional, subject specific, and dissertation and theses databases from inception to 16 December 2016, without language restrictions. In addition, we searched the Science Citation Index and checked the references of all the relevant studies. We also handsearched selected journals, conference proceedings, and relevant guidelines. We updated this search in March 2018, but we have not yet incorporated these results. SELECTION CRITERIA: We considered full-text diagnostic test accuracy studies of any individual index test, or a combination of tests, against a reference standard. Participants were adults without obvious airway abnormalities, who were having laryngoscopy performed with a standard laryngoscope and the trachea intubated with a standard tracheal tube. Index tests included the Mallampati test, modified Mallampati test, Wilson risk score, thyromental distance, sternomental distance, mouth opening test, upper lip bite test, or any combination of these. The target condition was difficult airway, with one of the following reference standards: difficult face mask ventilation, difficult laryngoscopy, difficult tracheal intubation, and failed intubation. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We performed screening and selection of the studies, data extraction and assessment of methodological quality (using QUADAS-2) independently and in duplicate. We designed a Microsoft Access database for data collection and used Review Manager 5 and R for data analysis. For each index test and each reference standard, we assessed sensitivity and specificity. We produced forest plots and summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plots to summarize the data. Where possible, we performed meta-analyses to calculate pooled estimates and compare test accuracy indirectly using bivariate models. We investigated heterogeneity and performed sensitivity analyses. MAIN RESULTS: We included 133 (127 cohort type and 6 case-control) studies involving 844,206 participants. We evaluated a total of seven different prespecified index tests in the 133 studies, as well as 69 non-prespecified, and 32 combinations. For the prespecified index tests, we found six studies for the Mallampati test, 105 for the modified Mallampati test, six for the Wilson risk score, 52 for thyromental distance, 18 for sternomental distance, 34 for the mouth opening test, and 30 for the upper lip bite test. Difficult face mask ventilation was the reference standard in seven studies, difficult laryngoscopy in 92 studies, difficult tracheal intubation in 50 studies, and failed intubation in two studies. Across all studies, we judged the risk of bias to be variable for the different domains; we mostly observed low risk of bias for patient selection, flow and timing, and unclear risk of bias for reference standard and index test. Applicability concerns were generally low for all domains. For difficult laryngoscopy, the summary sensitivity ranged from 0.22 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.13 to 0.33; mouth opening test) to 0.67 (95% CI 0.45 to 0.83; upper lip bite test) and the summary specificity ranged from 0.80 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.85; modified Mallampati test) to 0.95 (95% CI 0.88 to 0.98; Wilson risk score). The upper lip bite test for diagnosing difficult laryngoscopy provided the highest sensitivity compared to the other tests (P < 0.001). For difficult tracheal intubation, summary sensitivity ranged from 0.24 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.43; thyromental distance) to 0.51 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.61; modified Mallampati test) and the summary specificity ranged from 0.87 (95% CI 0.82 to 0.91; modified Mallampati test) to 0.93 (0.87 to 0.96; mouth opening test). The modified Mallampati test had the highest sensitivity for diagnosing difficult tracheal intubation compared to the other tests (P < 0.001). For difficult face mask ventilation, we could only estimate summary sensitivity (0.17, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.39) and specificity (0.90, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.95) for the modified Mallampati test. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Bedside airway examination tests, for assessing the physical status of the airway in adults with no apparent anatomical airway abnormalities, are designed as screening tests. Screening tests are expected to have high sensitivities. We found that all investigated index tests had relatively low sensitivities with high variability. In contrast, specificities were consistently and markedly higher than sensitivities across all tests. The standard bedside airway examination tests should be interpreted with caution, as they do not appear to be good screening tests. Among the tests we examined, the upper lip bite test showed the most favourable diagnostic test accuracy properties. Given the paucity of available data, future research is needed to develop tests with high sensitivities to make them useful, and to consider their use for screening difficult face mask ventilation and failed intubation. The 27 studies in 'Studies awaiting classification' may alter the conclusions of the review, once we have assessed them.

Characteristics of children less than 2 years of age undergoing anaesthesia in Denmark 2005-2015: a national observational study.

There are few data available that describe the current anaesthetic management of children. We have analysed anaesthetic practice and peri-operative complications for children in Denmark aged less than two years. We conducted a population-based observational cohort study using the Danish Anaesthesia Database to identify children who received anaesthesia in hospital from 1 January 2005 until 31 December 2015. Data were combined with that from the Danish National Patient Registry and the Danish Civil Registration System. Age, sex, height, weight, ASA physical status, days in hospital before anaesthesia, number of anaesthetics per child, indications for anaesthesia, methods of anaesthesia, airway management and complications were all recorded. A total of 17,436 children (64% of whom were male) received 27,653 anaesthetics during the study period. In 58% of cases, the child had an ASA physical status score of 1. Thirty-seven percent had a previous anaesthetic episode. Seventy-nine percent were anaesthetised at a university hospital. The indications for anaesthesia were surgery (70%), diagnostic radiology (16%), non-surgical care (11%) and other indications (3%). General anaesthesia combining intravenous and inhalational agents was the most common approach for surgery (68%) and diagnostic radiology (47%). For non-surgical care, general anaesthesia using inhalational agents was the most common method (42%). Neuraxial blocks were used infrequently. The most common regional anaesthetic nerve block was an infraclavicular brachial plexus block (11%). Peri-operative complications occurred in 1.71% of cases. A large proportion of anaesthetics were conducted in children with comorbidities. Non-surgical indications for anaesthesia were frequent and peri-operative complications were rare.

A Novel Difficult-Airway Prediction Tool for Emergency Airway Management: Validation of the HEAVEN Criteria in a Large Air Medical Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Difficult-airway prediction tools help identify optimal airway techniques, but were derived in elective surgery patients and may not be applicable to emergency rapid sequence intubation (RSI). The HEAVEN criteria (Hypoxemia, Extremes of size, Anatomic abnormalities, Vomit/blood/fluid, Exsanguination, Neck mobility issues) may be more relevant to emergency RSI patients. OBJECTIVE: To validate the HEAVEN criteria for difficult-airway prediction in emergency RSI using a large air medical cohort. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis using a large air medical airway registry using data from 160 bases over a 1-year period. Standard test characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value [NPV]) for the HEAVEN criteria were calculated for overall intubation success, first-attempt success, and first-attempt success without desaturation. In addition, multivariable logistic regression was used to quantify the independent association between each of the HEAVEN criteria, as well as the total number of criteria present and intubation success after adjusting for age, gender, and clinical category (burn, medical, trauma, nontraumatic shock). RESULTS: A total of 2419 patients undergoing air medical RSI were included. Excellent NPV was observed (97% for each of the HEAVEN criteria except "Exsanguination," which had an NPV of 87% but specificity of 99%). First-attempt success was lower for each of the HEAVEN criteria, with an inverse relationship observed between total HEAVEN criteria and intubation success (first-attempt success with no criteria = 94% and with 5 + criteria = 43%). Multivariable logistic regression revealed independent associations between each of the HEAVEN criteria, as well as total number of criteria and intubation success. CONCLUSIONS: The HEAVEN criteria seem to be a useful tool to predict difficult airways in emergency RSI.