Does Age of Physician Affect Performance of Cricothyroidotomy?

Age-related deterioration in fine-motor skills and cognitive function is well established. Researchers investigated whether age affects learning and performance of cricothyroidotomy in a prospective, controlled study of 36 anesthesiologists at a tertiary care hospital in Canada. Participants managed two high-fidelity simulated cannot intubate/cannot ventilate scenarios that required emergent percutaneous cricothyroidotomy (JW Emerg Med Sep 17 2010). All procedures were videotaped. After completing the first scenario, participants received video-assisted debriefing and specific instruction on cricothyroidotomy. Performance was assessed by procedural time and scores on a task-specific checklist (range, 0–10) and global rating scale (range, 0–…