Obesity is Unlikely to be an Impediment to First-Pass Success During the Intubation of Critically Ill Patients

Background: Obesity has been described as a potential risk factor for difficult intubation among critically ill patients. Our primary aim was to further elucidate the association between obesity and first-pass success. Our secondary aim was to determine whether the use of hyper-angulated video laryngoscopy improves first-pass success compared to direct laryngoscopy when utilized for the intubation of critically ill obese patients. Study Design and Methods: A retrospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing endotracheal intubation outside of the operating room or emergency department between January 30, 2016 and May 1, 2020 at 3 campuses of an academic hospital system in the Bronx, NY. Our primary outcome was first-pass success of intubation. A multivariate logistic analysis was utilized to compare obesity status with first-pass success. Results: We identified 3791 critically ill patients who underwent endotracheal intubation of which 1417 were obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30). The incidence of hyper-angulated video laryngoscopy increased over the study period. A total of 46.6% of obese patients underwent intubation with hyper-angulated video laryngoscopy as compared to 35.1% of the nonobese group. First-pass success was 79.2% among the entire cohort. Obesity status did not appear to be associated with first-pass success (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 090-1.27; P = .47). Hyper-angulated video laryngoscopy did not seem to improve first-pass success among obese patients as compared to nonobese patients (adjusted OR 1.21, 95% CI: 0.85-1.71; P = .29). These findings persisted even after redefining the obesity cutoff as BMI ≥ 40 and excluding patients intubated during cardiac arrests. Conclusion: We did not detect an association between obesity and first-pass success. Hyper-angulated video laryngoscopy did not appear offer additional benefit over direct laryngoscopy during the intubation of critically ill obese patients.