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A Novel Rescue Technique for Difficult Intubation and Difficult Ventilation
Published on: January 17, 2011
Noninvasive Ventilation for Preoxygenation during Emergency Intubation
Kevin W Gibbs1, Matthew W Semler1, Brian E Driver1
1From the Department of Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Immunologic Diseases (K.W.G., J.A.P.), the Department of Anesthesiology, Section of Critical Care Medicine (J.P.G., J.K.G.), and the Department of Emergency Medicine (J.P.G., J.K.G.), Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC; the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine (M.W.S., K.P.S., A. Muhs, T.W.R., J.R., K.W., J.D.C.), the Departments of Emergency Medicine (W.H.S., B.D.L.) and Biostatistics (B.I.), and Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (W.H.S., B.D.L.), Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville; the Department of Emergency Medicine (B.E.D., M.E.P., S.J. Hansen) and the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine (M.E.P., S.J. Hansen), Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis; the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington (S.B.S., J.M.W.), and the Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (A.D., N.I.S.) - both in Massachusetts; the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus (C.T., P.J.K.); the Department of Emergency Medicine (D.R.-A., S.G.S., C.W., S.A.T., V.S.B., A.A.G.) and the Center for COMBAT Research (V.S.B.), University of Colorado School of Medicine, and the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care (N.R.A., P.D.S.), and the Department of Anesthesiology (J.C.B., S.G.S., N.K.), University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus - both in Aurora; the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Baylor Scott and White Medical Center, Temple (H.D.W., S.A.G.), and U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (S.G.S., B.J.L.) and Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston (S.G.S., B.J.L.), and the 59th Medical Wing, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland (B.J.L.), San Antonio - all in Texas; the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine (S.G., M.R.W., D.W.R., D.B.P.), and the Departments of Emergency Medicine (M.R.W.) and Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine (A.B.B.), Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Pulmonary Section (D.W.R.) - both in Birmingham; the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City (K.C.D., A.S.); the Department of Critical Care Medicine (A. Mohamed, L.A., V.B., A. Moskowitz, R.M.) and the Department of Medicine, Pulmonary Division (D.G.F.), Montefiore Einstein, Bronx, NY; the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland (A.K., G.A.); Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Emergency Medicine Residency Program-Baton Rouge Campus (L.H.B., S.M.A.), and the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine Residency Program-Baton Rouge Campus (J.E.W., C.B.T.), Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine-New Orleans, Baton Rouge; the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine (S.J. Halliday, M.T.L.), and the Department of Anesthesia (M.T.L.), University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison; the Department of Emergency Medicine, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver (S.A.T.); and the University Medical Center New Orleans and the Department of Medicine, Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care Medicine, and Allergy and Immunology, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans (D.R.J.).
Background:
Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, hypoxemia increases the risk of cardiac arrest and death. The effect of preoxygenation with noninvasive ventilation, as compared with preoxygenation with an oxygen mask, on the incidence of hypoxemia during tracheal intubation is uncertain.
Methods:
In a multicenter, randomized trial conducted at 24 emergency departments and intensive care units in the United States, we randomly assigned critically ill adults (age, ≥18 years) undergoing tracheal intubation to receive preoxygenation with either noninvasive ventilation or an oxygen mask. The primary outcome was hypoxemia during intubation, defined by an oxygen saturation of less than 85% during the interval between induction of anesthesia and 2 minutes after tracheal intubation.
Results:
Among the 1301 patients enrolled, hypoxemia occurred in 57 of 624 patients (9.1%) in the noninvasive-ventilation group and in 118 of 637 patients (18.5%) in the oxygen-mask group (difference, -9.4 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -13.2 to -5.6; P<0.001). Cardiac arrest occurred in 1 patient (0.2%) in the noninvasive-ventilation group and in 7 patients (1.1%) in the oxygen-mask group (difference, -0.9 percentage points; 95% CI, -1.8 to -0.1). Aspiration occurred in 6 patients (0.9%) in the noninvasive-ventilation group and in 9 patients (1.4%) in the oxygen-mask group (difference, -0.4 percentage points; 95% CI, -1.6 to 0.7).
Conclusions:
Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, preoxygenation with noninvasive ventilation resulted in a lower incidence of hypoxemia during intubation than preoxygenation with an oxygen mask. (Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense; PREOXI ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05267652.).
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