2015 Article of the Year Award Winner Announced

The winner of the fourth annual “Airway Article of the Year” award was announced during a live webinar hosted by AirwayWorld.com on December 17, 2015. Calvin Brown III, MD, host of the webinar, presented four articles as finalists. The nominees were selected from among all of the articles covered during the Airway Management Research Update webinars held in 2015.

 

The content and merits of each article were presented. Incidence of and risk factors for difficult ventilation via a supraglottic airway device in population of 14,480 patients from SE Asia by Tomoyuki Saito, MD, and his team chosen as the winner by a vote of the on-line audience during the show.

 

The 2015 Nominees were:

 

1. Hagiwara Y, et al. A prospective validation of the modified LEMON criteria to predict difficult intubation in the ED. Am J Emerg Med 2015 Oct; 30(10). View NEJM Journal Watch Summary

 

2. Saito T, et al. Incidence of and risk factors for difficult ventilation via a supraglottic airway device in population of 14,480 patients from SE Asia. Anaesthesia 2015 Sept; 70(9):1079-83. View NEJM Journal Watch Summary

 

3. Sakles, JC et al. The use of a video laryngoscope by emergency medicine residents associated with a reduction in esophageal intubations in the emergency department. Acad Emerg Med 2015 Jun; 22:700. View NEJM Journal Watch Summary

 

4. Silverberg MJ, et al. Comparison of video laryngoscopy versus direct laryngoscopy during urgent endotracheal intubation: A randomized controlled trial. Crit Care Med 2015 Mar; 43:636. View NEJM Journal Watch Summary

 

In Saito’s study, researchers reviewed records for 14,480 adult surgery patients in whom an SGA was used between 2011 and 2013 at a tertiary hospital in Southeast Asia. Difficult ventilation occurred in 74 patients or 0.5%. In only 0.2% of the patients, failure occurred resulting in removal of the SGA followed by intubation. Investigators found four risk factors for difficult or failed ventilation: short thyromental distance, limited neck movement, male sex, and age of 45. Obesity was not found to be a risk factor in this study.

 

According to Calvin Brown, III, MD, “The findings were telling because the SGAs used in this study provided adequate oxygenation in virtually all cases — more than 99% of the time and morbid obesity, generally considered a risk factor for difficult rescue ventilation and oxygenation, was not an independent predictor of device failure.” The size of the study also contributed to making it a very worthy contender according to Brown. “Dr. Saito’s study really resonated with the audience who selected him for this honor among some outstanding nominees,” added Brown. “Congratulations to Dr. Saito and his team!”

 

To view the Award Show in its entirely, visit www.airwayworld.com/webinars. You can also download the podcast via iTunes, or at www.airwayworld.com/airway-podcasts.

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