Gum-Elastic Bougie Efficacy for Tracheal Intubation During Continuous Chest Compression in Infants-A Crossover Simulation Trial.

BACKGROUND: Recent guidelines for infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation emphasize that all rescuers should minimize interruption of chest compression, even for endotracheal intubation.

OBJECTIVE: We compared the utility of application of a gum-elastic bougie (GEB) plus Miller laryngoscope (Mil) with the Mil alone during chest compression on an infant mannequin.

METHODS: Sixteen anesthesiologists with more than 2 years of experience performed tracheal intubation on an infant mannequin using the Mil or Mil plus 6Fr GEB, with or without chest compression. Intubation success rate, intubation time, and subjective difficulty scores of laryngoscopy and tube passage through the glottis were measured.

RESULTS: In Mil trials, none of the participants failed without compression, whereas four failed with compression (p = 0.03). In Mil-plus-GEB trials, all participants succeeded regardless of chest compression. Intubation time was significantly longer with chest compression in both Mil and Mil-plus-GEB trials (p < 0.001). The intubation time during chest compression was significantly longer in Mil than in Mil-plus-GEB trials (p < 0.001). Difficulty of operation on a visual analog scale (VAS) for laryngoscopy did not significantly differ between Mil and Mil-plus-GEB trials during chest compression, whereas the VAS for tube passage through the glottis was significantly higher in Mil than in Mil-plus-GEB trials.

CONCLUSIONS: GEB use shortened the intubation time and improved the success rate of infant tracheal intubation during chest compression by anesthesiologists in simulations.