Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Park - Glidescope Intubation During Uninterrupted CPR

    The concept and practice of  " intubation during  uninterrupted CPR"  was demonstrated by Dr Marvin Wayne during exploration of application of the Glidescope Ranger to a Whatcom County Fire Ambulance Service service area population published in 2010 (1). Many patients in this study were in fact CPR patients and on a few the compressions were noted on video to be continuous during the intubation.
   The confirmation study has now been published by SO Park (2) who has published a landmark study in 09/25/2013 Rescusitation wherein it was shown that Glidescope intubation can be easily carried out without interruption of CPR. The importance of this finding is that the debate about how to manage airway during resuscitation is vaulted to a new level by readily available Glidescope technology.
The 60 degree angle of the Glidescope is important in that it allows easy airway viewing during the intubation as will be noted when viewing real time intubations carried out  by Fire service care givers. The adoption of Glidescope Video Laryngoscopy can substantially change the current management of airways during CPR.


Reference:
1. 

Comparison of Traditional versus Video Laryngoscopy in Out-of-Hospital Tracheal Intubation

Authors: Wayne, Marvin A.; McDonnell, Mannix
Source: Prehospital Emergency Care, Volume 14, Number 2, June 2010 , pp. 278-282(5)

 Results. The average time to intubate in the VL group was 21 seconds (range 8---43 seconds) versus 42 seconds (range 28---90 seconds) in the TL group. The average number of attempts was 1.2 (range 1---3) in the VL group versus 2.3 (range 1---4) in the TL group. Successful intubation was 97% in the VL group versus 95% in the TL group. There were no unrecognized misplaced tubes in either group. For failed intubations, an alternative airway was successful in 99% of the VL group and 99% of the TL group. Maximum nonventilated time during any one intubation attempt was 37 seconds in the VL group and 55 seconds in the TL group. Conclusions. The numbers of attempts were significantly reduced in the VL group. This suggests that the use of VL has a positive effect on the number of attempts to achieve tracheal intubation.

2.
Feasibility of the video-laryngoscope (GlideScope) for endotracheal intubation during uninterrupted chest compressions in actual advanced life support: A clinical observational study in an urban emergency department Source: Resuscitation, 09/25/2013  

Park SO et al. – This is the first clinical trial to evaluate whether successful endotracheal intubation (ETI) using a video–laryngoscope (VL) (GlideScope) can be performed easily without chest compression interruptions during actual cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after brief VL training, regardless of the physicians’ levels of experience with successful ETI in the past. In a clinical setting, the use of a VL had a high success rate for the first ETI attempt with notably few chest compression interruptions, regardless of the physicians’ varying experience with successful ETI in the past.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

SHANA Important New Airway Society for Head and Neck Anesthesiologists

                                 

                               



                                                 SHANA an important New Airway Society!
   The Society of Head and Neck Anesthesia has been created recently from a base at the University of Michigan Medical Centre in part due to the efforts of Dr David Healey , the founder , and a group of enthusiastic colleagues dedicated to the study and development of the considerable  intricacies of anesthesia in the area.

    The society is developing a new "Zero Fee" model that is expected to be popular in the future , especially in international arenas where the internet can be the principle vehicle of communication. The site is developing rapidly and contains a useful feature area for algorithms or protocols , a  library, and developing picture and video collection.

    There is very high level information currently posted on " Extubation Strategy" for example which has been pointed out recently as being a troublesome area in the post -operative area but more importantly in the ICU setting where care is driven by teams. UK NAP 4 Data shows clearly that Death and Brain damage are outcomes likely when Extubation is poorly planned or executed .

    Interesting posts are also available from Dr Anil Patel , for example , which teach the subtleties of sub Glottic stenosis management. The benefits of membership promise to be very instructive as the energy of the scientific team come on in full force.

 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Telemedicine Advance Teaching and Quality assurance



The advent of Telemedicine and its application to Airway is proceeding now with a series of experimental applications in US Army Afghanistan , Harbourview Hospital Helicopter Transport, Fort Sam Houston, Tucson Arizona and at Avera health in Sioux Falls South Dakota. 
The scene here is from the E Emergency 24/7 bunker at Avera Health where the central hospital team assists the smaller hospital ER team with decision support, and evacuation strategy as required.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

EMS Adoption of Glidescope

The EMS planned adoption of Glidescope Ranger and GlideScope AVL has been gathering momentum recently. There is a synergy as well with Military usage which has become institutionalized within branches of the US Military based on the widespread educational activity and general popularity of Video Laryngoscopy.
USB recording for GlideScope ALV monitor system is now a reality and can be obtained for EMS. This addition makes video file management very simple and will allow the EMS Medical Director to keep a very current convenient quality file and teaching file.
Dr Ken Rothfield working with Howard County EMS has been a leader in proving that addition of video laryngoscopy teaching to EMS Fire and Rescue teams improves performance to 96% overall success rates.
Video and especially recording video make it possible to learn and grow the skills of a department while operations are sustained.
Look for exciting new products from Verathon in the coming year .
Highlight Glidescope 2
This mighty Glidescope is a great addition to any EMS or Hospital Glidescope system.
Keep tuned in.


Sunday, March 31, 2013

Telemedicine and the New ASA Airway Algorithm

                         

 The adoption of the electronic Medical Record and the adoption of Telemedicine Promises to improve health care , greatly improve Patient Participation in Health care planning , and reduce cost of quality care at once.

  Avera Health in Sioux Falls South Dakota provides a glimpse of the future for this new technology.
The E-ICU , The E-ER, The E-Pharmacy links a large and increasing number of hospitals in the adjacent 7 states into a network that provides Quality care standards and Clinical support via an ever expanding IT framework.

 Dr Don Kosiak is the Medical Services leader of this innovative E-Care  Medical activity and leads the ATA special interest subgroup.  Mr Jay Weems , the Executive Director of the services , reports that the 24/7 telehealth service has resulted in a measured 18% decrease in Ambulance and Helicopter transfers to major hospitals which results in smaller hospitals being enabled to safely provide higher levels of care using protocols and monitoring from the center hospital.

The service is in the initial stages of using Telemedicine directed airway management techniques which promise to bring Video laryngoscopy to a new level of sophistication by allowing "big Hospital" guidance on a real time basis.  The combination of these techniques with the benefits of the new revised  ASA difficult Airway Algorithm which features Video laryngoscopy prominently in the planning of airway intervention is an extremely powerful combination.

Take the time to study the new ASA thinking as soon as possible.


Airway Geometry


The GlideScope Ranger


Thursday, January 10, 2013

"New" ASA Difficult Airway Guidelines 2012

The long awaited new ASA airway management guidelines incorporate the Video laryngoscope for the first time. GlideScope is the most widely used device of this kind. GlideScope  led development of this practice change.
1. The Algorithm features Video Laryngoscopy as a potential first choice in the initial assessment phase.
2. Then the Video laryngoscope is the first mentioned option for " alternate approaches to intubation" where rescue is required.
The primary ASA table is presented here .

DIFFICULT AIRWAY ALGORITHM

1.  Assess the likelihood and clinical impact of basic management problems:
 Difficulty with patient cooperation or consent
 Difficult mask ventilation
 Difficult supraglottic airway placement
 Difficult laryngoscopy
 Difficult intubation
 Difficult surgical airway access
2.  Actively pursue opportunities to deliver supplemental oxygen throughout the process of difficult airway management.
3.  Consider the relative merits and feasibility of basic management choices:
 Awake intubation vs. intubation after induction of general anesthesia
 Non-invasive technique vs. invasive techniques for the initial approach to intubation
 Video-assisted laryngoscopy as an initial approach to intubation
 Preservation vs. ablation of spontaneous ventilation

 
Alternative approaches to intubation  include:
  Video laryngoscopy, alternative laryngoscope blades, SGAs like  the LMA, light wand, flexible laryngoscopes and others.

The document is very detailed and is required reading for aspiring  "Airway Managers".
Anesthesiology  Feb 2013  vol. 118, No. 2.