Is Prehospital Advanced Airway Management Harmful for Cardiac Arrest Patients?

Prehospital advanced airway management by paramedics has become common, but little clinical evidence supports its effectiveness. Furthermore, recent research on resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has led to a shift in management from ABC to CAB, with good-quality chest compressions and defibrillation given priority over airway management (JW Physician's First Watch Mar 12 2008).

In a retrospective analysis of Japan's nationwide registry of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests from 2005 through 2010, researchers assessed the association between prehospital airway management methods and 30-day neurological outcomes. They used propensity score matching and stratified analysis to control for potential confounders. About 650…