Can We Predict Which Children Will Arrest Soon After Intubation in the ED?

Hypoxia prior to intubation strongly predicts postintubation cardiac arrest in pediatric patients.

To identify risk factors for postintubation cardiac arrest in children, these authors retrospectively examined 543 endotracheal intubations performed at a single pediatric emergency department over 9 years. They conducted a nested case-control study of the 21 patients (3.9%) who had a cardiac arrest within 20 minutes after intubation and 84 randomly selected controls without cardiac arrest.

Reason for intubation, intubator's specialty or level of training, medications used to facilitate intubation, and time of day did not differ between the two groups. Infants aged 1 to 12 months accounted for 38% of the cardiac arrest cases. Median time to cardiac arrest was 5 minutes. Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 16 patients (76%), 12 …

Reviewing Author

Carolyn K. Holland, MD, MEd, FACEP, FAAP

Disclosures

EquityGeneral Electric

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Program Committee Chief Resident Forum Subcommittee Chair); American College of Emergency Physicians (Education Committee member)

Carolyn K. Holland, MD, MEd, FACEP, FAAP

Disclosures

EquityGeneral Electric

Can We Predict Which Children Will Arrest Soon After Intubation in the ED?

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Reviewing Author