In a study of operating room intubations with acute-angled videolaryngoscopes, “sniffing” head position, reduced mouth opening, and attending intubators were associated with prolonged intubation times.
To identify predictors of difficult or prolonged intubation with hypercurved video laryngoscopes, investigators conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial of 1100 elective surgery patients who were intubated with either GlideScope or C-MAC D-blade video laryngoscopy after anesthesia and neuromuscular blockade. Markers of intubation difficulty (Mallampati score III or IV, reduced mouth opening and neck mobility, large neck circumference) as well as patient and operator-level variables were collected. Difficult intubation was defined as more than one attempt or a single successful attempt that took longer than 60 seconds.
Intubation was deemed difficult in 301 patients: in 27 because it required a second attempt, in 244 be…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresConsultant / Advisory boardVerathon, Inc. (Scientific Advisory Board Member)
Editorial boardsScientific American Emergency Medicine; Manual of Emergency Airway Management (Editor-in-Chief)
Leadership positions in professional societiesPrograms Subcommittee Chair for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine–Residency and Fellowship Fair
DisclosuresConsultant / Advisory boardVerathon, Inc. (Scientific Advisory Board Member)
Editorial boardsScientific American Emergency Medicine; Manual of Emergency Airway Management (Editor-in-Chief)
Leadership positions in professional societiesPrograms Subcommittee Chair for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine–Residency and Fellowship Fair