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. 2023 Dec;33(12):1001-1011.
doi: 10.1111/pan.14760. Epub 2023 Sep 16.

The role of WhatsApp™ in pediatric difficult airway management: A study from the PeDI Collaborative

Evelina Pankiv  1   2 , Kira Achaibar  1   2 , Alomgir Hossain  3 , John E Fiadjoe  4 , Clyde T Matava  1   2 ; PeDI-C Collaborators
Collaborators, Affiliations

The role of WhatsApp™ in pediatric difficult airway management: A study from the PeDI Collaborative

Evelina Pankiv et al. Paediatr Anaesth. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Management of the pediatric difficult airway can present unique clinical challenges. The Pediatric Difficult Intubation Collaborative (PeDI-C) is an international collaborative group engaging in quality improvement and research in children with difficult airways. The PeDI-C established a WhatsApp™ group to facilitate real-time discussions around the management of the difficult airway in pediatric patients. The goals of this study were to evaluate the patterns of use of the WhatsApp™ group, themes on messages posted on pediatric difficult airway management and to assess the perceived usefulness of the WhatsApp™ group by the PeDI-C members.

Method: Following research ethics approval, we performed a database analysis on the archived discussion of the PeDI-C WhatsApp™ group from 2014 to 2019 and surveyed members to assess the perceived usefulness of the PeDI-C WhatsApp™ group.

Results: 5781 messages were reviewed with 350 (6.0%) original stems. The three most common original stem types were advice seeking 98 (28%), announcements 85 (24.2%), and clinical case-sharing 78 (22.2%). The median number of responses to original stems was 9 [2-21.3]. Post types associated with increased responses included those seeking advice on medication/equipment (regression coefficient 0.78, 95% CI [0.41-1.16]; p < .0001); seeking advice on patient care (regression coefficient 1.16, 95% CI [0.86-1.45]; p < .0001), sharing advice on medication/equipment availability (regression coefficient 0.87, 95% CI [0.33-1.40], p < .0016), and clinical case-sharing (regression coefficient 1.2547, 95% CI [0.9401-1.5693] p < .0001). 46/64 members of the group responded to the survey. Replies offering advice regarding patient management scenarios were found to be of most interest and 77% of surveyed members found the discussion translatable into their own clinical practice.

Discussion: The PeDI-C WhatsApp™ group has facilitated timely knowledge exchange on pediatric difficult airway management across the world. Participants are satisfied with the role the Whatsapp™ group is playing.

Keywords: WhatsApp™; airway; difficult airway; network; pediatric anesthesia; social network.

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References

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