A Modified Rabbit Training Model for Establishing an Emergency Front of Neck Airway in Children

A "cannot intubate, cannot oxygenate" (CICO) situation is rare in paediatric anaesthesia, but can always occur in children under certain emergency situations. There is a paucity of literature on specific procedures for securing an emergency invasive airway in children under the age of 6 years. A modified emergency Front Of Neck Access (eFONA) technique using a rabbit cadaver model was developed to teach invasive airway protection in a CICO situation in children.

After watching an instructional video of our eFONA technique (tracheotomy, initial intubation with Frova catheter over which an endotracheal tube is inserted), 29 anaesthesiologists will perform two separate attempts on rabbit cadavers. The primary outcome is the success rate and the performance time overall and in subgroups of trained and untrained participants.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Emergency Front of Neck Airway in Children
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: eFONA

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 29

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Zurich, Switzerland, 8032
    • University Childrens Hospital, Department of Anaesthesia and Children's Research Centre

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Anesthesiologists working at the department of Anesthesia at University Children's Hospital Zurich

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Anesthesiologists working at the department of Anesthesia at University Children's Hospital Zurich

Exclusion Criteria:

• n.a.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Trained in eFONA; Trained participants completed our eFONA workshop within the last six month prior to participating in this study	Procedure: eFONA; Surgical Tracheotomy
Untrained in eFONA; Untrained participants had never taken part in our institutional eFONA workshop	Procedure: eFONA; Surgical Tracheotomy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sucess rate	Correct positioning of the endotracheal tube in to the trachea	during study period, approx 15min
Performance time	Time needed to complete the surgical tracheotomy	during study period, max 240 sec

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Secondary injuries	paratracheal placement of the ETT, perforation of the back wall or complete rupture of the trachea	during study period, approx 15min

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Children's Hospital, Zurich

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 4, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): September 30, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 28, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 28, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): October 5, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 5, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 28, 2020
• Last Verified: September 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Cannot intubate, cannot oxygenate in children; emergency front of neck airway; rabbit cadaver model; emergency tracheotomy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies
• Other Study ID Numbers: eFONA KISPI

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No