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. 2017 May 8;1(2):2473974X17707916.
doi: 10.1177/2473974X17707916. eCollection 2017 Apr-Jun.

Pediatric Trainees Managing a Difficult Airway: Comparison of Laryngeal Mask Airway, Direct, and Video-Assisted Laryngoscopy

Art Ambrosio  1   2 , Kastley Marvin  1 , Colleen Perez  1 , Chelsie Byrnes  3 , Cory Gaconnet  4 , Chris Cornelissen  5 , Matthew Brigger  1   6
Affiliations

Pediatric Trainees Managing a Difficult Airway: Comparison of Laryngeal Mask Airway, Direct, and Video-Assisted Laryngoscopy

Art Ambrosio et al. OTO Open. .

Abstract

Objective: Difficult airway management is a key skill required by all pediatric physicians, yet training on multiple modalities is lacking. The objective of this study was to compare the rate of, and time to, successful advanced infant airway placement with direct laryngoscopy, video-assisted laryngoscopy, and laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in a difficult airway simulator. This study is the first to compare the success with 3 methods for difficult airway management among pediatric trainees.

Study design: Randomized crossover pilot study.

Setting: Tertiary academic medical center.

Methods: Twenty-two pediatric residents, interns, and medical students were tested. Participants were provided 1 training session by faculty using a normal infant manikin. Subjects then performed all 3 of the aforementioned advanced airway modalities in a randomized order on a difficult airway model of a Robin sequence. Success was defined as confirmed endotracheal intubation or correct LMA placement by the testing instructor in ≤120 seconds.

Results: Direct laryngoscopy demonstrated a significantly higher placement success rate (77.3%) than video-assisted laryngoscopy (36.4%, P = .0117) and LMA (31.8%, P = .0039). Video-assisted laryngoscopy required a significantly longer amount of time during successful intubations (84.8 seconds; 95% CI, 59.4-110.1) versus direct laryngoscopy (44.9 seconds; 95% CI, 33.8-55.9) and LMA placement (36.6 seconds; 95% CI, 24.7-48.4).

Conclusions: Pediatric trainees demonstrated significantly higher success using direct laryngoscopy in a difficult airway simulator model. However, given the potential lifesaving implications of advanced airway adjuncts, including video-assisted laryngoscopy and LMA placement, more extensive training on adjunctive airway management techniques may be useful for trainees.

Keywords: difficult airway; direct laryngoscopy; laryngeal mask airway; medical education; simulation; video-assisted laryngoscopy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Direct laryngoscopy demonstrated a significantly higher placement success rate (77.3%) than video-assisted laryngoscopy (36.4%, P = .0117) and laryngeal mask airway (31.8%, P = .0039).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Video-assisted laryngoscopy required a significantly longer amount of time during successful placement (84.8 seconds; 95% CI, 59.4-110.1) when compared with direct laryngoscopy (44.9 seconds; 95% CI, 33.8-55.9) and laryngeal mask airway placement (36.6 seconds; 95% CI, 24.7-48.4).
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