Featured Airway Literature
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Parks A, Nallbani M, Goldstein J, Munroe CA, Law JA, Swain J, Hebert S, Barro B, Kovacs G. The effect of acute psychologic and physiologic stress on tactile bougie use: a cadaveric airway study. CJEM. 2026 Feb 20. doi: 10.1007/s43678-026-01104-7. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41721189.
Objectives: When difficulty with laryngoscopy is encountered, successful tracheal access can be indicated by the tactile feedback afforded by an advancing tracheal tube introducer ("bougie"). However, there is evidence that when providers experience psychologic and physiologic stress, their cognitive and motor abilities deteriorate. In this study, we used human cadaveric airways to examine the effect of stress on the accuracy of tactile feedback interpretation when infrequent airway providers use the bougie.
Methods: This was a partially-blinded, prospective, randomized, observational study. Paramedics were recruited, underwent a brief training protocol, and were then tested during four scenarios, two of which included stressful conditions. Our primary objective was to determine whether stress significantly affected the accuracy of tactile feedback interpretation in determining tracheal vs. esophageal bougie placement in a Cormack-Lehane Grade 3a situation. Secondary outcomes included providers' confidence in their assessments, their subjective stress level, and the time taken to make a decision.
Results: Thirty-seven paramedics were randomized to complete 146 bougie assessments on cadaveric airways (74 under stressful conditions, and 72 under non-stressful conditions). Participants were significantly less accurate in determining the correct bougie location under stressful conditions, with an associated OR of 0.31 (95% CI [0.14, 0.68], p = .003).
Conclusions: The induction of psychologic and physiologic stress significantly decreased the accuracy of interpreting tactile feedback from a bougie in cadaveric airways by prehospital providers who intubate infrequently. Our data also suggests that although participants were less accurate during the stressful scenarios, they did not report being less confident in their
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Casey JD, Seitz KP, Driver BE, Gibbs KW, Ginde AA, Trent SA, Russell DW, Muhs AL, Prekker ME, Gaillard JP, Resnick-Ault D, Stewart LJ, Whitson MR, DeMasi SC, Robinson AE, Palakshappa JA, Aggarwal NR, Brainard JC, Douin DJ, Marvi TK, Scott BK, Alber SM, Lyle C, Gandotra S, Van Schaik GW, Lacy AJ, Sherlin KC, Erickson HL, Cain JM, Redman B, Beach LL, Gould B, McIntosh J, Lewis AA, Lloyd BD, Israel TL, Imhoff B, Wang L, Spicer AB, Churpek MM, Rice TW, Self WH, Han JH, Semler MW; RSI Investigators and the Pragmatic Critical Care Research Group. Ketamine or Etomidate for Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults. N Engl J Med. 2025 Dec 9:10.1056/NEJMoa2511420. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2511420. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41369227; PMCID: PMC12711137.
Background: For critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, observational studies suggest that the use of etomidate to induce anesthesia may increase the risk of death. Whether the use of ketamine rather than etomidate decreases the risk of death is uncertain.
Methods: In a randomized trial conducted in 14 emergency departments and intensive care units in the United States, we randomly assigned critically ill adults who were undergoing tracheal intubation to receive ketamine or etomidate for the induction of anesthesia. The primary outcome was in-hospital death from any cause by day 28. The secondary outcome was cardiovascular collapse during intubation, defined by the occurrence of a systolic blood pressure below 65 mm Hg, receipt of a new or increased dose of vasopressors, or cardiac arrest.
Results: A total of 2365 patients underwent randomization and were included in the trial population; 1176 were assigned to the ketamine group and 1189 to the etomidate group. In-hospital death by day 28 occurred in 330 of 1173 patients (28.1%) in the ketamine group and in 345 of 1186 patients (29.1%) in the etomidate group (risk difference adjusted for trial site, -0.8 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -4.5 to 2.9; P = 0.65). Cardiovascular collapse during intubation occurred in 260 of 1176 patients (22.1%) in the ketamine group and in 202 of 1189 patients (17.0%) in the etomidate group (risk difference, 5.1 percentage points; 95% CI, 1.9 to 8.3). Prespecified safety outcomes were similar in the two groups.
Conclusions: Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, the use of ketamine to induce anesthesia did not result in a significantly lower incidence of in-hospital death by day 28 than etomidate. (Funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and others; RSI ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05277896.).
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Kei J, Eurick T, Hauck TA. Intubation Practices in Community Emergency Departments. Ann Emerg Med. 2025 Aug;86(2):169-174. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2024.11.021. Epub 2025 Jan 10. PMID: 39797884.
Study objective: This study analyzes emergency medicine airway management trends and outcomes among community emergency departments.
Methods: A multicenter, retrospective chart review was conducted on 11,475 intubations from 15 different community emergency departments between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2022. Data collected included patient's age, sex, rapid sequence intubation medications, use of cricoid pressure, method of intubation, number of attempts, admission diagnosis, and all-cause mortality rates.
Results: Active cardiopulmonary resuscitation occurred in 11.4% of intubations. When rapid sequence intubation was employed, the most frequently used induction agents were etomidate (91.6%), propofol (4.3%), and ketamine (4.1%). From 2015 to 2022, the use of rocuronium (versus succinylcholine) increased from 33.9% to 61.9%, a difference of 28% (95% confidence interval [CI] 21.1% to 34.9%). During the same period, video laryngoscopy (versus direct laryngoscopy) increased from 27.4% to 77.7%, a difference of 50.3% (95% CI 44.2% to 56.4%). Only 46% of intubations used cricoid pressure. Physicians had a first-pass success rate of 80.5% and a failure rate of 0.2%. The most common documented admission diagnoses among intubated patients were respiratory etiologies (27.8%), neurologic causes (21.4%), and sepsis (16.0%). All-cause mortality rates were high for intubated patients at 24 hours (19.7%), 7 days (29.4%), 30 days (38.4%), and 1 year (45.4%).
Conclusion: Physicians intubating in community emergency departments have similar rates of first-pass success and failure seen in academic Level-1 trauma centers despite treating medically sick patients with high all-cause mortality rates. Dramatic shifts in choice of paralytic and method for intubation were seen.
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Pitre T, Liu W, Zeraatkar D, Casey JD, Dionne JC, Gibbs KW, Ginde AA, Needham-Nethercott N, Rice TW, Semler MW, Rochwerg B. Preoxygenation strategies for intubation of patients who are critically ill: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. Lancet Respir Med. 2025 Jul;13(7):585-596. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(25)00029-3. Epub 2025 Mar 21. PMID: 40127663.
Background: Preoxygenation is a crucial preparatory step for intubation. Several strategies for preoxygenation exist, including facemask oxygen, high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), and non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV). However, the comparative efficacy of these strategies remains largely uncertain. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of HFNC, NIPPV, and facemask oxygen for preoxygenation of patients who are critically ill requiring tracheal intubation.
Methods: In this systematic review and network meta-analysis, we searched Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for randomised clinical trials published from database inception until Oct 31, 2024, with no language restrictions. We included randomised controlled trials that compared HFNC versus NIPPV, HFNC versus facemask oxygen, or NIPPV versus facemask oxygen in adult patients (age ≥18 years) who were critically ill requiring intubation in the intensive care or emergency department setting. We had no additional eligibility criteria for our network meta-analysis. We used Covidence software to screen eligible trials. Two reviewers independently screened trials for titles and abstracts, and then subsequently screened full-text reports. Discrepancies were resolved by discussion or a third party adjudicator. Summary-level data were extracted manually using a structured data collection form. Outcomes of interest were hypoxaemia during intubation, successful intubation on the first attempt, serious adverse events, and all-cause mortality. We performed a frequentist random-effects network meta-analysis. We assessed the risk of bias using the modified Cochrane tool (RoB 2.0) and the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach. The protocol is registered on the Open Science Framework.
Findings: We initially identified 6900 records, of which 48 were assessed via full-text screening, and 15 eligible studies with 3420 patients were included in our systematic review and network meta-analysis. Findings suggested that use of NIPPV for preoxygenation probably reduces the incidence of hypoxaemia during intubation versus HFNC (relative risk 0·73 [95% CI 0·55-0·98]; p=0·032; moderate certainty) and reduces the incidence of hypoxaemia versus facemask oxygen (0·51 [0·39-0·65]; p<0·0001; high certainty). HFNC for preoxygenation reduces the incidence of hypoxaemia during intubation versus facemask oxygen (0·69 [0·54-0·88]; p=0·0064; high certainty). None of the preoxygenation strategies affected the incidence of successful intubation on the first attempt (all low certainty). None of the preoxygenation strategies appeared to affect all-cause mortality (very low-to-moderate certainty). NIPPV probably reduces the risk of serious adverse events versus facemask oxygen (0·30 [0·12-0·77]; p=0·011; moderate certainty) and might reduce the risk of serious adverse events versus HFNC (0·32 [0·11-0·91]; p=0·035; low certainty). HFNC might not reduce the risk of serious adverse events versus facemask oxygen (0·95 [0·60-1·51]; p=0·83; low certainty).
Interpretation: Preoxygenation with NIPPV or HFNC rather than facemask oxygen might prevent hypoxaemia during tracheal intubation of adults who are critically ill. Compared with HFNC, NIPPV probably decreases the incidence of hypoxaemia during intubation. Our findings will inform updated international guidelines on preoxygenation.
