Wire-Guided Cricothyrotomy May Be Superior to Standard Technique

Emergency cricothyrotomy is one of only a few time-dependent life-saving interventions. These authors compared the standard surgical technique and the Melker cricothyrotome, a commercial Seldinger-based kit, in a randomized, crossover trial. Placement accuracy, complications, incision length, user preference, and performance time were assessed.

After completing a 15-minute training course, EM residents and attending physicians performed the 2 techniques on 15 human cadavers. Placement was accurate in 93% of the wire-guided cases versus 87% of cases performed with the standard technique. The wire-guided technique resulted in a significantly shorter mean incision length. There were no differences in complication rates or mean times to complete…