A research study on the effect of an initial airway management strategy us-ing laryngeal tube insertion (LTI), compared with endotracheal intubation (ETI), on survival among adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has been completed in Milwaukee County.
About the research
This study was performed by the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) – a collaboration of 10 U.S. and Canadian sites that perform emergency research. A total of 3004 patients were enrolled in the study. Milwaukee County was one of the ROC sites where Milwaukee County Emergency Medical Services and the Medical College of Wisconsin per-formed this research.
Of the 3004 patients enrolled nationwide, 875 patients were enrolled in Milwaukee County between October 2016 and November 2017. 542 patients (61.9%) were male and 333 (38.1%) were female. 452 patients (51.7%) were White, 276 (31.5%) were Black or African American, 11 (1.3%) were Asian, and 136 (15.5%) were other or unreported race. 52 patients (5.9%) were Hispanic.
Study Results
The study found that among patients with OHCA, a strategy of initial LTI was associated with significantly greater 72-hour survival compared with a strategy of initial ETI. These findings suggest that LTI may be considered as an initial airway management strategy in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but limitations of the pragmatic design, practice setting, and ETI performance characteristics suggest that further research is warranted. For additional information, please contact Dr. M. Riccardo Colella at (414) 804-6493 or via email at RRC@mcw.edu.