Changes in Cormack-Lehane View Between First and Second Emergency Department Intubation Attempts.

BACKGROUND

The laryngeal view from an unsuccessful first intubation attempt is critical for planning the next attempt.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the agreement of glottic views, as measured by the Cormack-Lehane classification, between the first and second intubation attempts in the emergency department (ED).

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of ED intubations in the National Emergency Airway Registry from 2016 to 2018 in adults who received both a sedative and paralytic, were intubated with either direct or video laryngoscopy, and received multiple (more than one) intubation attempts. We excluded cases where laryngoscopes, supine vs. nonsupine positioning, or external laryngeal manipulation were altered between attempts. We divided cases into two cohorts: the different intubator cohort (first and second attempts by different intubators) and the same intubator cohort (both attempts by the same intubator). We measured the percent agreement and calculated a weighted kappa (κ) as a secondary measure of agreement.

RESULTS

We included 640 ED intubation cases: 200 in the different intubator cohort and 440 in the same intubator cohort. Between the first and second attempts, the Cormack-Lehane grade was the same in 100 (50.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 43.1-56.9) cases for the different intubator cohort (κ = 0.40, 95% CI 0.29-0.51) and 317 (72.0%, 95% CI 67.6-76.1) cases in the same intubator cohort (κ = 0.53, 95% CI 0.46-0.61).

CONCLUSION

Among ED intubations with multiple attempts under similar conditions, the glottic view changed in half of all cases when the intubator changed, and in over a quarter of cases when the same intubator tried again.