Does video laryngoscopy or direct laryngoscopy affect first-pass success rates for intubation among attending and non-attending emergency physicians in the emergency department?

Abstract

Background: To our knowledge, there has been no study comparing intubation characteristics between attending and non-attending emergency physicians in Southeast Asia. We aim to identify whether the use of direct laryngoscopy compared to video laryngoscopy affects first-pass success rates between attending emergency physicians and non-attending emergency physicians. Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis of data from 2009 to 2016 in an existing airway registry managed by an academic Emergency Department in Singapore. Primary outcome was first-pass success intubation rate. Secondary outcome was first-pass success rate for difficult intubations. Difficult intubations were defined as LEMON (Look externally, Evaluate 3-3-2 rule, Mallampati score, Obstruction, Neck mobility) score of more than 1. Results: There were a total of 2909 intubations. Attending emergency physicians conducted 1748 intubations, while non-attending emergency physicians conducted 1161 intubations. The first-pass success rates for AEP were 84.2% and 67.4% for non-attending emergency physicians. Direct laryngoscopy was used in 86.2% of intubation by attending emergency physicians compared to 89.0% in the intubation by non-attending emergency physicians. Also, 7.6% of intubations by the attending emergency physicians were difficult compared to 8.8% by the non-attending emergency physicians (p = 0.25). Logistic regression of the effect of laryngoscopy device on first-pass success in all intubations showed a negative association with video laryngoscopy (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.56–0.88). In the subgroup of difficult intubations, non-attending emergency physicians are 1.54 times (95% confidence interval, 0.53–4.42) as likely to have first-pass success with video laryngoscopy compared to that with direct laryngoscopy. On the contrary, in the subgroup of difficult intubations, attending emergency physicians are 0.90 times (95% confidence interval, 0.38–2.12) as likely to have first-pass success with video laryngoscopy compared to that with direct laryngoscopy. Conclusion: Our study showed that video laryngoscopy has a lower first-pass success rate for all intubations in general. Intubations performed by attending emergency physicians with direct laryngoscopy were associated with a higher first-pass success rate.