Sedation versus General Anesthesia for Tracheal Intubation in Children with Difficult Airways: A Cohort Study from the Pediatric Difficult Intubation Registry

Sedated and awake tracheal intubation approaches are considered safest in adults with difficult airways, but little is known about the outcomes of sedated intubations in children. The primary aim of this study was to compare the first-attempt success rate of tracheal intubation during sedated tracheal intubation versus tracheal intubation under general anesthesia. The hypothesis was that sedated intubation would be associated with a lower first-attempt success rate and more complications than general anesthesia.

Citation:
Sequera-Ramos L, Laverriere EK, Garcia-Marcinkiewicz AG, et al and von Ungern-Sternberg BS, Sommerfield D for the PeDI Collaborative. Sedation versus General Anesthesia for Tracheal Intubation in Children with Difficult Airways: A Cohort Study from the Pediatric Difficult Intubation Registry. Anesthesiology. 2022;137(4):418-33

Keywords:
Anesthesia; tracheal intubation

Abstract:
Sedated and awake tracheal intubation approaches are considered safest in adults with difficult airways, but little is known about the outcomes of sedated intubations in children. The primary aim of this study was to compare the first-attempt success rate of tracheal intubation during sedated tracheal intubation versus tracheal intubation under general anesthesia. The hypothesis was that sedated intubation would be associated with a lower first-attempt success rate and more complications than general anesthesia.