Techniques and Trends, Success Rates, and Adverse Events in Emergency Department Pediatric Intubations: A Report From the National Emergency Airway Registry

Abstract

Study objective: We describe emergency department (ED) intubation practices for children younger than 16 years through multicenter prospective surveillance.

Methods: Academic and community EDs in the United States, Canada, and Australia recorded data electronically, from 2002 to 2012, with verified greater than or equal to 90% reporting.

Results: Ten of 18 participating centers provided qualifying data, reporting 1,053 encounters. Emergency physicians initiated 85% of intubations. Trainees initiated 83% (95% confidence interval [CI] 81% to 85%). Premedication became uncommon, reaching less than 30% by the last year. Etomidate was used in 78% of rapid sequence intubations. Rocuronium use increased during the period of study, whereas succinylcholine use declined. Video laryngoscopy increased, whereas direct laryngoscopy declined. The first attempt was successful in 83% of patients (95% CI 81% to 85%) overall. The risk of first-attempt failure was highest for infants (relative risk versus all others 2.3; 95% CI 1.8 to 3.0). Odds of first-attempt success for girls relative to boys were 0.57. The odds were 3.4 times greater for rapid sequence intubation than sedation without paralysis. The ultimate success rate was 99.5%.

Conclusion: Because we sampled only 10 centers and most of the intubations were by trainees, our results may not be generalizable to the typical ED setting. We found that premedication is now uncommon, etomidate is the predominant induction agent, and rocuronium and video laryngoscopy are used increasingly. First-attempt failure is most common in infants.