Dataset Information

Endotracheal intubation to reduce aspiration events in acutely comatose patients: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It is customary to believe that a patient with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score less than or equal to 8 should be intubated to avoid aspiration. We conducted a systematic review to establish if patients with GCS ≤ 8 for trauma or non-traumatic emergencies and treated in the acute care setting (e.g., Emergency Department or Pre-hospital environment) should be intubated to avoid aspiration or aspiration pneumonia/pneumonitis, and consequently, reduce mortality.

Methods

We searched six databases, Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, SpringerLink, Cochrane Library, and Ovid Emcare, from April 15th to October 14th, 2020, for studies involving low GCS score patients of whom the risk of aspiration and related complications was assessed.

Results

Thirteen studies were included in the final analysis (7 on non-traumatic population, 4 on trauma population, 1 pediatric and 1 adult mixed case studies). For the non-traumatic cases, two prospective studies and one retrospective study found no difference in aspiration risk between intubated and non-intubated patients. Two retrospective studies reported a reduction in the risk of aspiration in the intubated patient group. For traumatic cases, the study that considered the risk of aspiration did not show any differences between the two groups. A study on adult mixed cases found no difference in the incidence of aspiration among intubated and non-intubated patients. A study on pediatric patients found increased mortality for intubated versus non-intubated non-traumatic patients with a low GCS score.

Conclusion

Whether intubation results in a reduction in the incidence of aspiration events and whether these are more frequent in patients with low GCS scores are not yet established. The paucity of evidence on this topic makes clinical trials justifiable and necessary.

Trial registration

Prospero registration number: CRD42020136987 .

SUBMITTER: Orso D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7726605 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionVideolaryngoscope is regarded as the standard of care for airway management in well-resourced setups however the technology is largely inaccessible and costly in middle and low-income countries. An improvised and cost-effective form of customized videolaryngoscope was proposed and studied for patient care in underprivileged areas however there were no distinct conclusions on its performances.MethodThe study follows PRISMA guidelines for systematic review and the protocol in International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews. The primary aim was to assess the first attempt success of customized videolaryngoscope for endotracheal intubation. The secondary objective was to evaluate the number of attempts, laryngoscopic view in terms of Cormack Lehane score and Percentage of glottic opening, use of external laryngeal maneuver and stylet and, the airway injuries after the endotracheal intubation.ResultFive studies were analyzed for risk of bias using the National Institute of Health Quality Assessment Tool for cross-sectional studies. Most of the studies had a poor to a fair level of evidence with only one study with a good level of evidence. Certainty of evidence was "very low" for all eligible studies when graded using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach for systematic review.ConclusionsThe certainty of the evidence regarding performance of custom-made videolaryngoscope compared to conventional laryngoscope was very low and the study was performed in small numbers with fair to the poor risk of bias. It was difficult to establish and do further analysis regarding whether the customized form of videolaryngoscope will improve the first attempt success rate for tracheal intubation, reduce the number of attempts, improve the laryngoscopic view, require fewer external aids and reduce the incidences of airway injury with the given low-grade evidence. Some properly conducted randomised clinical trials will be required to further analyze the outcome and make the strong recommendations.

Project description:Background:Patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) often require urgent or emergent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and are at risk of complications such as aspiration of gastric content or blood. The role of prophylactic endotracheal intubation (PEI) in the absence of usual respiratory status-related indications is not well established. Methods:We searched Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library's Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and SCOPUS from inception through July 2017 without date or language of publication restriction. We included studies that compared PEI with usual care (UC) in patients with acute UGIB, and reported any of the following outcomes: aspiration, pneumonia, mortality and length of stay. We excluded studies in which majority of included patients required intubation due to respiratory failure or decreased level of consciousness. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the quality of evidence for each outcome. Results:We did not identify any randomized trials on this topic. We included 10 observational studies (n = 6068). We were not able to perform any adjusted analyses. PEI was associated with a significant increase in aspiration (OR 3.85, 95% CI, 1.46, 10.25; P = 0.01; I2 = 56%; low-quality evidence), pneumonia (OR 4.17, 95% CI, 1.82, 9.57; P = 0.0007; I2 =52%; low-quality evidence) and hospital length of stay (mean difference 0.86 days, 95% CI 0.13, 1.59; P = 0.02; I2 = 0; low-quality evidence), without clear effect on mortality (OR 1.92, 95% CI, 0.71, 5.23; P = 0.2; I2 = 95%; very low-quality evidence). Conclusions:Low- to very low-quality evidence from observational studies suggests that PEI in the setting of UGIB may be associated with higher rates of respiratory complications and, less likely, with increased mortality. Although the results are alarming, the lack of higher quality evidence calls for randomized trials to inform practice.

Project description:BackgroundWhen conventional high-volume, low-pressure cuffs of endotracheal tubes (ETTs) are inflated, channel formation due to folds in the cuff wall can occur. These channels facilitate microaspiration of subglottic secretions, which is the main pathogenic mechanism leading to intubation-related pneumonia. Ultrathin polyurethane (PU)-cuffed ETTs are developed to minimize channel formation in the cuff wall and therefore the risk of microaspiration and respiratory infections.MethodsWe systematically reviewed the available literature for laboratory and clinical studies comparing fluid leakage or microaspiration and/or rates of respiratory infections between ETTs with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cuffs and ETTs with PU cuffs.ResultsThe literature search revealed nine in vitro experiments, one in vivo (animal) experiment, and five clinical studies. Among the 9 in vitro studies, 10 types of PU-cuffed ETTs were compared with 17 types of PVC-cuffed tubes, accounting for 67 vs. 108 experiments with 36 PU-cuffed tubes and 42 PVC-cuffed tubes, respectively. Among the clinical studies, three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified that involved 708 patients. In this review, we provide evidence that PU cuffs protect more efficiently than PVC cuffs against fluid leakage or microaspiration. All studies with leakage and/or microaspiration as the primary outcome demonstrated significantly less leakage (eight in vitro and two clinical studies) or at least a tendency toward more efficient sealing (one in vivo animal experiment). In particular, high-risk patients intubated for shorter periods may benefit from the more effective sealing capacity afforded by PU cuffs. For example, cardiac surgery patients experienced a lower risk of early postoperative pneumonia in one RCT. The evidence that PU-cuffed tubes prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is less robust, probably because microaspiration is postponed rather than eliminated. One RCT demonstrated no difference in VAP risk between patients intubated with either PU-cuffed or PVC-cuffed tubes, and one before-after trial demonstrated a favorable reduction in VAP rates following the introduction of PU-cuffed tubes.ConclusionsCurrent evidence can support the use of PU-cuffed ETTs in high-risk surgical patients, while there is only very limited evidence that PU cuffs prevent pneumonia in patients ventilated for prolonged periods.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:Teleguidance facilitated intubation has recently reemerged during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic as a strategy to provide expert airway management guidance and consultation to practitioners in settings where such expertise is not readily available onsite or in-person. We conducted a scoping review to provide a synthesis of the available literature on teleguidance facilitated intubation. Specifically, we aimed to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of teleguidance facilitated intubation given existing technology. DATA SOURCES:A librarian-assisted search was performed using three primary electronic medical databases from January 2000 to November 2020. STUDY SELECTION:Articles that reported outcomes focused on implementing or evaluating the performance of teleguidance facilitated intubation were included. DATA EXTRACTION:Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full text of articles to determine eligibility. Data extraction was performed using customized fields established a priori within a systematic review software system. DATA SYNTHESIS:Of 255 citations identified, 17 met eligibility criteria. Studies included prospective investigations and proof of technology reports. These studies were performed in clinical and simulation environments. Five of the prospective investigations that examined time to intubation and intubation success rates. Multiple different commercially available and noncommercial teleconference software systems were used in these studies. CONCLUSIONS:There is a limited body of literature evaluating the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of teleguidance facilitated intubation. Based on the studies available that examined a variety of technologies within simulation and clinical environments, teleguidance facilitated intubation appears to be feasible, safe, and efficacious. Given the exponential growth in the use of telemedicine technology during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the evidence supporting teleguidance facilitated intubation, there is a need to critically evaluate the most effective mechanisms to integrate and optimize these technologies across diverse practice settings.

Project description:Patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at high risk for airway obstruction and hypoxia at the accident scene, and routine prehospital endotracheal intubation has been widely advocated. However, the effects on outcome are unclear. We therefore aim to determine effects of prehospital intubation on mortality and hypothesize that such effects may depend on the emergency medical service providers' skill and experience in performing this intervention.PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched without restrictions up to July 2015. Studies comparing effects of prehospital intubation versus non-invasive airway management on mortality in non-paediatric patients with severe TBI were selected for the systematic review. Results were pooled across a subset of studies that met predefined quality criteria. Random effects meta-analysis, stratified by experience, was used to obtain pooled estimates of the effect of prehospital intubation on mortality. Meta-regression was used to formally assess differences between experience groups. Mortality was the main outcome measure, and odds ratios refer to the odds of mortality in patients undergoing prehospital intubation versus odds of mortality in patients who are not intubated in the field. The study was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) with number CRD42014015506. The search provided 733 studies, of which 6 studies including data from 4772 patients met inclusion and quality criteria for the meta-analysis. Prehospital intubation by providers with limited experience was associated with an approximately twofold increase in the odds of mortality (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.61 to 3.38, p<0.001). In contrast, there was no evidence for higher mortality in patients who were intubated by providers with extended level of training (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.08, p = 0.126). Meta-regression confirmed that experience is a significant predictor of mortality (p = 0.009).Effects of prehospital endotracheal intubation depend on the experience of prehospital healthcare providers. Intubation by paramedics who are not well skilled to do so markedly increases mortality, suggesting that routine prehospital intubation of TBI patients should be abandoned in emergency medical services in which providers do not have ample training, skill and experience in performing this intervention.