Airway Management's Dirty Laundry – Lessons From The NAP4 Study

1. Airway Management's Dirty Laundry – Lessons From The NAP4 Study D. John Doyle MD PhD Cleveland Clinic

2. Dr D John DoyleProfessor of AnesthesiologyCleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio MD University of Toronto, 1982 PhD University of Toronto, 1986 Boarded Royal College of Physicians, Canada, 1986 Boarded American Board of Anesthesiology, 1989 University of Toronto / Toronto General Hospital 1987 to 2001 • Case Western Reserve University / Cleveland Clinic 2002 to present • Past President: • Society for Airway Management • Society for Technology in Anesthesia

7. Transtracheal Injection of Local Anesthestic Through an IV Catheter

8. NO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

9. Cambridge University Press 2012

10. 4th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (NAP4) Major complications of airway management in the UK March 2011 http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/nap4

11. A valuable educational resource, full of valuable lessons • 24 chapters, 5 appendices • Free download: http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/nap4

12. Easy to read, engaging style • Captured the interest of anesthesiologists around the world • Many cautionary tales

15. The National Audit Project 4 was initiated jointly by the Difficult Airway Society and the Royal College of Anesthetists to investigate airway management in the UK. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

16. The investigators collected airway complication data arising in ORs, ICUs & EDs from all NHS hospitals over a 1 year period. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

17. The endpoints were: death, permanent disability such as brain damage; an unplanned surgical airway; or an unanticipated admission to ICU/ prolongation of ICU stay. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

18. A census of all clinical activity over 2 weeks was carried to estimate denominator and incidence figures. There were 133 reports of serious airway complications relating to general anesthesia, giving an incidence of 1:22,000. There were 16 anesthesia deaths and 3 episodes of permanent brain damage, resulting in an anesthesia airway-related mortality rate of 1:180,000. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

20. Approximately 42% of anesthesia events reported had a primary airway event indicating intubation difficulty that was ultimately responsible for 13% of airway related mortality. The majority of the events occurred in straightforward elective surgery in ASA I-II male patients aged <60. A potential practice inadequacy identified was that a formal airway assessment was recorded in only 35 of 133 cases (26%). http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

21. Aspiration was the single most common primary cause of mortality (rather than cerebral hypoxia per se), and notably, aspiration occurred as frequently using a supraglottic airway as during the use of a tracheal tube. Aspiration accounted for 8 anesthesia deaths and two cases of brain damage.

22. Nearly 50% of the events followed head & neck surgery. Approximately 70% of these reports were associated with obstructive lesions within the airway & reports indicated evidence of poor anticipation and planning for management of airway instrumentation & extubation. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

23. Obese patients were disproportionately represented, presenting twice as frequently in the population that suffered incidents than in the group that did not. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

24. Use of a needle cricothyroidotomyas a rescue technique suffered a 65% failure rate with numerous mechanisms of failure cited including: equipment, training, insertion technique and ventilation technique. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

25. An emergency surgical airway was necessary in 43% of anesthesia cases…mostsurgical airways were undertaken by surgeons. One quarter of events involved emergence … usually resulting in airway obstruction from laryngospasm, biting on the airway device or airway swelling. Reviewers found that elements of poor management were observed in the majority of cases. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

26. At least 1 in 4 major airway events were from ICU or ED. A consultant was usually present for the in-theatre events, in contrast to the ICU and ED events, where junior staff were more frequently present. The severity of ICU and ED events was greater, with death and brain damage a more frequent outcome. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

27. Displacement of tracheostomies caused 50% of ICU events. The majority of events in ED concerned difficult or failed tracheal intubation during RSI. In ICU/ED, capnography was often not used or was misinterpreted (especially during cardiac arrest) and was a contributory factor in 73% of deaths or neurological injury, usually due to unrecognisedoesophageal intubation. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

28. The executive summary suggests that when potential difficulty with airway management is identified, rather than an airway plan, a strategy is required. An airway plan suggests a single approach to management whereas a strategy is a co-ordinated, logical sequence of plans which includes a back-up plan & rescue techniques i.e., forward planning for initial failure. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

29. Of note, events were reported when supraglottic airway devices were used inappropriately, and supraglottic airways were used to avoid tracheal intubation in some patients with a recognised difficult airway without evidence of a back-up plan. Also, the project identified numerous cases where AFOI was indicated but not used. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

30. The authors suggest that choosing the safest technique for airway management may not necessarily be the anaesthetist’s most familiar and it may be necessary to seek the assistance of colleagues with specific skills. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

31. The authors also suggest that obesity needs to be recognized as a risk factor for airway difficulty and strategies modified accordingly. http://www.anaesthesiacases.com.au/cpd/dr_maryannes_journal_watch/may_2011_journal_watch

33. An Important Lesson: It is usually OK to wake up the patient and abort the anesthetic if airway problems are encountered!

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45. Some Clinical Themes SAD – supraglottic airway device

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