Table 1.
Baseline and difficult airway characteristics
| All (n=287) |
Pentax-Airway Scope (n=82) | King VISION (n=59) |
McGrath Mac (n=82) |
Macintosh (n=64) |
P | |
| Men | 165 (57.5) | 54 (65.9) | 31 (52.5) | 51 (62.2) | 29 (45.3) | 0.057 |
| Age, years | 65.4±20.5 | 60.7±24.8 | 69.0±16.2 | 67.4±17.1 | 65.7±21.4 | 0.457 |
| Height, cm | 158.1±14.4 | 156.9±19.3 | 159.3±9.0 | 160.9±10.2 | 154.9±14.9 | 0.044 |
| Weight, kg | 55.9±13.9 | 56.3±16.9 | 56.2±10.2 | 56.7±11.9 | 54.0±15.2 | 0.400 |
| Body mass index | 22.0±3.7 | 22.3±3.8 | 22.1±3.6 | 21.7±3.2 | 22.1±4.2 | 0.794 |
| Expert operators | 131 (45.6) | 36 (43.9) | 27 (45.8) | 45 (54.9) | 23 (35.9) | 0.149 |
| Location of tracheal intubation (ED/ICU) | 162 (56.4)/125 (43.6) | 49 (59.8)/33 (40.2) | 37 (62.7)/22 (37.3) | 37 (45.1)/45 (54.9) | 39 (60.9)/25 (39.1) | 0.111 |
| Indications for tracheal intubation | ||||||
| Cardiopulmonary arrest | 114 (39.7) | 34 (41.5) | 26 (44.1) | 25 (30.5) | 29 (45.3) | 0.220 |
| Airway obstruction | 14 (4.9) | 4 (4.9) | 1 (1.7) | 7 (8.5) | 2 (3.1) | 0.305 |
| Respiratory failure | 45 (15.7) | 12 (14.6) | 11 (18.6) | 14 (17.1) | 8 (12.5) | 0.789 |
| Haemodynamic instability | 32 (11.1) | 6 (7.3) | 2 (3.4) | 20 (24.4) | 4 (6.3) | 0.000 |
| Altered mental status | 82 (28.6) | 26 (31.7) | 19 (32.2) | 16 (19.5) | 21 (32.8) | 0.182 |
| Drugs used for tracheal intubation | ||||||
| None | 148 (51.6) | 44 (53.7) | 32 (54.2) | 35 (42.7) | 37 (57.8) | 0.274 |
| Sedatives | 116 (40.4) | 33 (40.2) | 24 (40.7) | 35 (42.7) | 24 (37.5) | 0.944 |
| Analgesics | 91 (31.7) | 22 (26.8) | 15 (25.4) | 36 (43.9) | 18 (28.1) | 0.053 |
| Muscle relaxants | 59 (20.6) | 15 (18.3) | 10 (16.9) | 22 (26.8) | 12 (18.8) | 0.450 |
| Drugs used for tracheal intubation in non-CPA cases | (n=173) | (n=48) | (n=33) | (n=57) | (n=35) | |
| None | 34 (19.7) | 10 (20.8) | 6 (18.2) | 10 (17.5) | 8 (22.9) | 0.925 |
| Sedatives | 116 (67.1) | 33 (68.8) | 24 (72.7) | 35 (61.4) | 24 (68.6) | 0.722 |
| Analgesics | 91 (52.6) | 22 (45.8) | 15 (45.5) | 36 (63.2) | 18 (51.4) | 0.250 |
| Muscle relaxants | 59 (34.1) | 15 (31.3) | 10 (30.3) | 22 (38.6) | 12 (34.3) | 0.842 |
| Difficult airway characteristics | ||||||
| Obesity | 16 (5.6) | 6 (7.3) | 3 (5.1) | 3 (3.7) | 4 (6.3) | 0.793 |
| Limited mouth opening | 17 (5.9) | 5 (6.1) | 5 (8.5) | 6 (7.3) | 1 (1.6) | 0.319 |
| Restricted neck mobilisation | 39 (13.6) | 19 (23.2) | 6 (10.2) | 7 (8.5) | 7 (10.9) | 0.040 |
| Short neck | 9 (3.1) | 3 (3.7) | 1 (1.7) | 3 (3.7) | 2 (3.1) | 0.937 |
| Facial trauma | 13 (4.5) | 7 (8.5) | 1 (1.7) | 4 (4.9) | 1 (1.6) | 0.171 |
| Oedema of glottis | 7 (2.4) | 2 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (4.9) | 1 (1.6) | 0.390 |
| Bloods, secretion or vomitus in airway | 123 (42.9) | 36 (43.9) | 23 (39.0) | 38 (46.3) | 26 (40.6) | 0.821 |
| Cases with difficult airway characteristics | 161 (56.1) | 47 (57.3) | 31 (52.5) | 48 (58.5) | 35 (54.7) | 0.897 |
Values are numbers (%) of observations or means ±SD.
CPA, cardiopulmonary arrest; ED, emergency department; ICU, intensive care unit.