Comparison of Neurological Outcome between Tracheal Intubation and Supraglottic Airway Device Insertion of Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients: A Nationwide, Population-based, Observational Study

The Journal of Emergency Medicine: Volume 44, Issue 2 , Pages 389-397, February 2013

© Gary Wilson/ Pre-hospital Research Forum

The effect of prehospital use of supraglottic airway devices as an alternative to tracheal intubation on long-term outcomes of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is unclear.

The authors compared the neurological outcomes of patients who underwent supraglottic airway device insertion with those who underwent tracheal intubation.

They conducted a nationwide population-based observational study using a national database containing all out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases in Japan over a 3-year period (2005–2007). The rates of neurologically favorable 1-month survival (primary outcome) and of 1-month survival and return of spontaneous circulation before hospital arrival (secondary outcomes) were examined. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to adjust for potential confounders. Advanced airway devices were used in 138,248 of 318,141 patients, including an endotracheal tube (ETT) in 16,054 patients (12%), a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in 34,125 patients (25%), and an oesophageal obturator airway (EOA) in 88,069 patients (63%).

The overall rate of neurologically favorable 1-month survival was 1.03% (1426/137,880). The rates of neurologically favorable 1-month survival were 1.14% (183/16,028) in the ETT group, 0.98% (333/34,059) in the LMA group, and 1.04% (910/87,793) in the EOA group. Compared with the ETT group, the rates were significantly lower in the LMA group (adjusted odds ratio 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.64–0.94) and EOA group (adjusted odds ratio 0.81, 95% CI 0.68–0.96).

The authors found that prehospital use of supraglottic airway devices was associated with slightly, but significantly, poorer neurological outcomes compared with tracheal intubation, but neurological outcomes remained poor overall.

http://www.jem-journal.com/article/S0736-4679(12)00247-8/abstract?elsca1=etoc&elsca2=email&elsca3=0736-4679_201302_44_2&elsca4=emergency_medicine